Guiding the MARI platform
In an electrical network, power generation and power consumption must be balanced. To ensure a stable frequency, there are many different balancing processes and products at play in the European electricity market. Magnus Energy has supported one of the centralised European balancing platforms, the Manually Activated Reserves Initiative (MARI), in coming into operations.
Key results
- Went live in 2022
- Involving 29 TSOs from 26 European countries
A need for centralised European balancing platforms
To establish and regulate the cross-border exchange of balancing energy within Europe, the European Commission created the Electricity Balancing Guideline (EBGL). Amongst many other requirements, the EBGL stipulates the establishment of several centralised European balancing platforms by the European TSOs. This has resulted in the following projects:
- MARI for manual Frequency Restauration Reserves (mFRR)
- PICASSO for automatic Frequency Restauration Reserves (aFRR)
- TERRE for Replacement Reserves (RR)
- IGCC for Imbalance Netting (IN)
- and lastly, voluntarily, the Frequency Containment Reserves (FCR) project.
The projects, and in particular the mandatory ones, are closely interlinked due to their similarities in set-up and process.
The MARI balancing project
The MARI project was established to deliver EBGL obligations relating to the mFRR platform – offering the centralised European platform to match energy-balancing bids and demands with manual activation across international borders. This enables the secure exchange of balancing energy across Europe and maximising economic surplus.
The MARI project also received a mandate to govern all cross-balancing platform issues, relating to PICASSO, IGCC and TERRE.
The MARI project and the centralised European mFRR platform are delivered by 29 TSOs from 26 countries. It is one of the biggest projects in the harmonisation of the European electricity network, both in terms of the number of participating countries and TSOs. Besides the TSOs involved, the project also cooperates closely with the other European balancing projects and the many other relevant stakeholders engaged in integrating the European energy (balancing) market.
Guiding one of the largest electricity market harmonisation projects
Due to the high number of stakeholders and the specific processes being implemented, the project faces significant complexity in terms of project and programme management. This is why Magnus Energy was asked to support the project with complex program management services. Having been involved in the MARI project since 2019, our team has extensive knowledge of the history of the project, as well as the current and future activities at play.
In addition to supporting the Steering Committee and the different working groups (Operational, Technical, Testing and Legal), we also provide active support for cross-project alignment. This includes coordination with the other European balancing projects and third parties. We also support budget management of both MARI and PICASSO, using the Magnus Energy budget management tool specifically developed for Europe’s energy integration projects and their often complex budgets.
Given the high number of stakeholders and complexity of the project, we maintain an impartial position. By ensuring strong project management and facilitating the multitude of deliverables, discussions and processes required, Magnus Energy provides the support needed for the TSOs to successfully establish and implement the mFRR platform.
Result: a fully operational platform
The platform was successfully brought into operation on 5 October 2022 with the accession of 5 TSOs, with more scheduled for a later date.
If you would like to learn more about the current status and performance of the platform, as well as other developments in the balancing market, then read our quarterly Balancing Market Watch.
Contact our experts
Our experts are here to guide you. Reach out to Gertjan Meutgeert for more information.
