ERCOT’s TAC Extends Duration of Ancillary Services

AI generated summary

ERCOT stakeholders have approved a protocol change to extend the duration of ancillary services, with new requirements set to take effect in December. The changes, outlined in NPRR1282, specify a 30-minute duration for regulation and responsive reserve services, and one hour for ERCOT contingency reserve service. This update aims to better manage grid variability and uncertainty, although there was some disagreement among stakeholders regarding the appropriate duration for certain services. The Independent Market Monitor suggested a shorter duration for non-spinning reserves to encourage energy provision from batteries, while ERCOT staff maintained that a four-hour duration is necessary for operational stability.

Additionally, the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) discussed other measures, including tabling NPRR1238, which introduces a new early curtailment load category, pending legislative considerations. They also endorsed Oncor's $855 million project to enhance reliability in West Texas, addressing rapid load growth in the Delaware Basin. Furthermore, revisions to the methodology for calculating maximum daily resource planned outage capacity were unanimously approved, aiming to ensure sufficient outage capacity throughout the year. Lastly, TAC endorsed a governing document for the third phase of ERCOT's Aggregated Distributed Energy Resources pilot project, which will increase participation limits and allow for new aggregation models.