234 G. JINDAL ET AL.
payment is in the form of a credit adjustment to their monthly electricity
bill. Contestable consumers with PV systems of less than 1 MWac capacity
are treated the same as conventional generators with the respect to the
electricity market. Nonetheless, they are accorded some benefits such as
the option to not have to register as a market participant in the wholesale
market but receive or make payments through a central intermediary.
For each half-hour wholesale market trading interval, electricity withdrawal from the grid and PV electricity exported to the grid are netted
off for these consumers. In case of net withdrawal, a consumer is charged
either the USEP or retail price, whereas in case of net export, the
consumer is paid at either the nodal price or the weighted average nodal
price. At the same time, these consumers are required to pay reserve
charges for frequency balancing services (e.g., regulation) 5 and market
charges such as market operators’ fees and grid charges, which are applicable to conventional generators. Reserves charges are calculated based
on gross import from grid and gross PV generation, whereas all other
market charges are calculated based on net import or export.
Alternatively, these contestable consumers with PV systems of capacity
less than 1 MWac can choose not to receive any compensation for net
export to the grid by registering themselves as an “IGS Non-Exporting”
system. The advantage being that they are also not subjected to reserve
and market charges in case of net export to the grid. These are only
applicable in case of net withdrawal (Energy Market Authority 2015).
Consumers with PV systems larger than 1 MWac have no choice but
to register as a participant in the wholesale market and are charged or
paid at the nodal price in case of net import or export, respectively. They
are subject to reserve charges based on gross import from grid and gross
PV generation, whereas all other market charges are calculated based on
net import or export. In 2017, the threshold for this scheme was modified for PV systems with capacity of up to 10 MWac (Energy Market
Authority 2017b), thus making it easier for consumers to install larger PV
systems and allowing them to decide the merits and demerits of having
their PV system treated as a generator or an IGS Non-Exporting system.
For consumers who utilize most of their PV system’s output for selfconsumption, the option to register as an IGS Non-Exporting system
may be more attractive so as to avoid being subjected to volatile market
charges.
payment is in the form of a credit adjustment to their monthly electricity
bill. Contestable consumers with PV systems of less than 1 MWac capacity
are treated the same as conventional generators with the respect to the
electricity market. Nonetheless, they are accorded some benefits such as
the option to not have to register as a market participant in the wholesale
market but receive or make payments through a central intermediary.
For each half-hour wholesale market trading interval, electricity withdrawal from the grid and PV electricity exported to the grid are netted
off for these consumers. In case of net withdrawal, a consumer is charged
either the USEP or retail price, whereas in case of net export, the
consumer is paid at either the nodal price or the weighted average nodal
price. At the same time, these consumers are required to pay reserve
charges for frequency balancing services (e.g., regulation) 5 and market
charges such as market operators’ fees and grid charges, which are applicable to conventional generators. Reserves charges are calculated based
on gross import from grid and gross PV generation, whereas all other
market charges are calculated based on net import or export.
Alternatively, these contestable consumers with PV systems of capacity
less than 1 MWac can choose not to receive any compensation for net
export to the grid by registering themselves as an “IGS Non-Exporting”
system. The advantage being that they are also not subjected to reserve
and market charges in case of net export to the grid. These are only
applicable in case of net withdrawal (Energy Market Authority 2015).
Consumers with PV systems larger than 1 MWac have no choice but
to register as a participant in the wholesale market and are charged or
paid at the nodal price in case of net import or export, respectively. They
are subject to reserve charges based on gross import from grid and gross
PV generation, whereas all other market charges are calculated based on
net import or export. In 2017, the threshold for this scheme was modified for PV systems with capacity of up to 10 MWac (Energy Market
Authority 2017b), thus making it easier for consumers to install larger PV
systems and allowing them to decide the merits and demerits of having
their PV system treated as a generator or an IGS Non-Exporting system.
For consumers who utilize most of their PV system’s output for selfconsumption, the option to register as an IGS Non-Exporting system
may be more attractive so as to avoid being subjected to volatile market
charges.