Balancing Reserve Auction Requirement Forecast
Summary
NESO publishes daily forecasts of balancing reserve requirements for its 08:15 auction that procures firm positive and negative reserve from BM units for delivery between 23:00 same day and 23:00 next day. The dataset includes both medium-term approximations and detailed daily forecasts refined with wind and solar data, providing half-hourly volume requirements for each service window. Data is overwritten daily with previous entries archived, and all forecasts published after 27 February are live demand forecasts.
Why it matters
The publication provides market transparency for generators bidding into the daily balancing reserve auction, allowing them to anticipate NESO's procurement volumes. As such, this pricing of balancing requirements through competitive auction rather than administrative allocation represents sound market design, though the effectiveness depends on sufficient competition in the bidding pool.
Key facts
- •Daily auction at 08:15 for 24-hour delivery window starting 23:00
- •Separate medium-term and detailed daily forecasts published
- •Half-hourly granularity for positive and negative reserve requirements
- •Live demand forecasts implemented from 27 February onwards
Areas affected
Memo
The Balancing reserve service has been designed to secure firm positive and negative reserve on BM units at the day ahead stage. The service is procured via a daily auction at 08:15 for delivery between 23:00 and 23:00 D+1. For more details of the service and how to participate see this page: [Balancing Reserve](https://www.nationalgrideso.com/industry-information/balancing-services/reserve-services/balancing-reserve) This data set contains the daily forecast of requirements for procurement via the Daily Balancing reserve auction. There are two separate datasets, a medium term forecast that gives an approximate requirement without detailed wind and solar forecasts, and the detailed daily forecast that refines the medium term figure with the latest short term features. The required volumes for both Positive Balancing Reserve and Negative Balancing reserve are given for each half-hour service window on each service day. The data sets are overwritten daily and the previous entries archived to the history file. >\*\*NOTE:\*\* All forecasts published on this page after 27th February are Live Demand Forecasts.