Flex›Source - Stödtjänster på Elmarknaden Energiforsk (2024)

Source - Stödtjänster på Elmarknaden Energiforsk (2024)

“Stödtjänster på elmarknaden – i dag och i framtiden” (Ancillary services in the electricity market — today and in the future). A concise introductory report on the Swedish ancillary service markets: what they are, why they are needed, how they work, and how the energy transition will change them. Useful primarily for market size data and the chronological overview of product development.

Bibliographic information

  • Title: Stödtjänster på elmarknaden – i dag och i framtiden
  • Author: Bo Diczfalusy, Bodiz Consulting AB (same author as Source - SOU 2025-47 Elmarknadsutredningen (2025))
  • Publisher: Energiforsk
  • Date: March 2024
  • ISBN: 978-91-89919-00-6
  • Length: ~18 pages
  • Programme manager: Stefan Montin (Energiforsk)

Summary

A high-level introduction to Swedish ancillary services, written for an audience of policymakers, industry actors, and new entrants who need a grounding in the products, their purpose, and market structure. Not a primary regulatory source. Most useful for:

  • Historical market size data (net costs)
  • Product chronology (FCR-D ned introduction, mFRR capacity market, aFRR activation market)
  • Reserve requirements table (~2023 data)
  • Narrative framing of BSP/BRP split rationale

Key findings

Market size — the most important data point

Svk’s net ancillary service costs grew dramatically:

  • 2020: ca 1.6 billion SEK
  • 2021: 3.8 billion SEK
  • 2022: 6.5 billion SEK (from the report’s foreword: “från 500 miljoner kronor för några år sedan till över 6 miljarder kronor år 2022”)

The foreword uses the round figure of “500 million SEK a few years ago” — consistent with a baseline in the mid-to-late 2010s. The primary driver was FCR and FRR cost increases, amplified by the spike in wholesale electricity prices in 2022 (stödtjänst prices track spot prices).

Reserve requirements (c. 2023 data)

ProductVolume (Sweden)Key activation parameter
FFRUp to ca 100 MWAutomatic <1.3 sec at low inertia
FCR-D uppUp to 558 MWAuto-linear 49.90–49.50 Hz; 20 min endurance
FCR-D nedUp to 538 MWAuto-linear 50.10–50.50 Hz; 20 min endurance
FCR-N231 MWSymmetric ±0.1 Hz; 1 h endurance
aFRRUp to 111 MWAuto within 5 min; 1 h endurance
mFRR (CM)Min bid 1 MW; 5 MW EAMManual within 15 min; 1 h endurance

These are the pre-2026 volumes; compare with Source - Svk Behov av Reserver 2026 for current requirements.

Product chronology

  • FCR-D ned: introduced 1 January 2022. Rationale: growing risk from loss of a large HVDC import cable creating a production surplus and over-frequency event (the symmetric counterpart to FCR-D upp).
  • mFRR capacity market: introduced October 2023.
  • aFRR energy activation market: to be introduced in 2026 (the report was written in early 2024 before the exact date was confirmed).
  • BSP/BRP split: announced as coming from 2024 (the report pre-dates the May 2024 paper construction).

Rationale for BSP/BRP split

The report explicitly states the intent: “Från och med 2024 kommer rollen som balansansvarig att delas upp i två skilda roller, leverantör av balanstjänster (BSP) och balansansvarig part (BRP). Avsikten med förändringen är att öppna marknaden för fler aktörer än i dag, till exempel aktörer som i dag agerar via samarbete med en balansansvarig, såsom aggregatorer.”

Translation: the split was explicitly designed to enable aggregators and other actors currently dependent on BRP partnerships to access markets independently.

Notable new market participants (2023–2024)

Two cases illustrating new FSP types:

  • Gränges (aluminum manufacturer): connecting aluminium furnaces to FCR. Furnaces switch off automatically when grid needs it — classic industrial demand response.
  • Ellevio Energy Solutions (EES): a ring-fenced subsidiary of Ellevio (the DSO) investing in battery parks and trading FCR-D and FFR. Notable: a DSO-affiliated entity using energy storage for TSO services — permissible because EES is structurally separated from the regulated DSO.

Svensk Kraftreserv AB

Svk’s wholly-owned subsidiary owns five gas turbines, historically used as a strategic reserve. From 2025, these are to be market-exposed (sold in the ancillary service markets). This reflects the policy direction of replacing administratively-procured strategic reserves with market-based procurement.

Price dynamics

The report notes that stödtjänst prices correlate with spot market prices: when spot prices are high, the opportunity cost of providing reserves is high, which drives up ancillary service prices. The 2022 spike in net costs was partly attributable to the wider energy price crisis, not only to increased volumes.

Future direction

Key themes for future market development:

  • Smaller minimum bid sizes to enable more distributed resources
  • Closer-to-real-time trading
  • New technology enablement: clearer qualification paths for VRE, demand flexibility, and storage
  • Potential inertia/rotational energy compensation mechanism (discussed but not yet decided as of publication)
  • EU cooperation via PICASSO (aFRR platform) and MARI (mFRR platform)
  • Voltage regulation services (non-frequency ancillary services) not yet market-priced; Svk considering administratively-set compensation

Limitations

  • Market data is current to ~2022/2023; the volume tables predate the 2026 reserve requirement changes.
  • The BSP/BRP discussion reflects the announced intent, not the actual implementation. As documented in Source - Svk Införande BSP BRP and FlexAbility reports, the May 2024 “paper construction” did not deliver the market access improvements this report anticipated.
  • Written as a popular introduction; does not contain primary regulatory citations for the individual product rules.