Structural changes to a metering grid area
This chapter describes situations in which individual metering points are transferred from one metering grid area to another, or in which the control of a metering grid area is completely transferred from one distribution system operator (DSO) to another. The descriptions are written primarily from Datahub’s perspective. This chapter does not deal with situations concerning normal market processes, in which new metering points are added to an existing metering grid area, or metering points are removed from it.
In connection with structural changes to metering grid areas, there is a need to exchange information between market parties about the changes. With regard to the structural changes described in this chapter, it is, however, a question of comparatively rare processes, and these changes also often concern a very large number of accounting points (possibly up to hundreds of thousands). The processes described below are not carried out through market messages, but it is done by using a separate data transfer file. Market parties form the csv-transfer file of the accounting points to be transferred with the help of the Datahub operator. This transfer file is used by the Datahub operator and the DSOs involved to process the needed actions.
It is noteworthy that, when transferring accounting points to the control of another DSO, without exception DSOs must always carry out a separate data conversion outside Datahub amongst themselves, in which data is transferred from the present grid owner to the new one. With regard to the change, it is all in all important for the new DSO to be able to ensure the correspondence between Datahub’s data and that of its own data system in connection with the change.
Some of the changes described in this chapter also affect eSett systems. For this reason, the change must also be agreed in advance with eSett before it is carried out. Generally speaking, structural changes to metering grid areas must be agreed with the Datahub organisation well in advance to ensure that the controlled introduction of the change can be carried out.
The processes also entail the transfer of grid agreements to another grid owner. In these changes, grid owners must take into account that the changes will be made in accordance with grid service terms.
These kind of structural changes affect also the suppliers for these accounting points so precise communication is very important.
Transferring control of a metering grid area
This chapter deals with situations in which the control of a metering grid area is completely transferred to a new grid company (which can be one of the existing DSOs). In the Datahub data model, this concerns the relation between the metering grid area and DSO (see figure below).
The transfer of control of a metering grid area to another grid company does not in itself affect any other structure in the metering grid area. For example, accounting points belonging to the metering grid area are transferred to the control of the new grid company as they are. Information about which grid owner now controls the metering grid area will be stored in Datahub.
When the control of the metering grid area is transferred from one DSO to another, the following actions must be taken:
The termination of control of the metering grid area for the present DSO and the start of control for the new DSO from a certain point in time.
The transfer of grid agreements from the present DSO to the new DSO. The grid agreements are transferred from the present DSO to the new one as they are
Balance deviation calculation for the metering grid area with regard to the present DSO.
Actions concerning the transfer of metering grid areas from one party to another are always started by the Datahub operator. In the interface provided by Datahub, the DSO does not have the right to directly control which metering grid areas are under the control of the DSO in question.
Transfer of grid agreements to a new DSO
When the operator begins the transfer of a metering grid area, the valid accounting point, agreement and product information for all the accounting points in the metering grid area is reported to the new grid owner for confirmation. This is done by forming a report from Datahub that includes all the accounting points involved in this change. The report has the information of the agreement identifications and products. The new DSO updates its own changed agreement and product information to the same file. Agreement information is also reported to the new DSO with regard to grid agreements that will enter into force in the future.
The Datahub operator uses the same updated file to perform the actual transfer of the accounting points.
The new DSO must ensure that, it has reported its new product data in a separate product data update notification before the actual update. If the new DSO needs to update other agreement details, such as invoicing method, this needs to be done with the agreement update event after the transfer by the Datahub operator is done. Along with the transfer of grid agreements, rights to the corresponding grid agreements are similarly transferred to the new DSO. The exchange points are transferred manually from one metering grid area to another after the transfer of the accounting points is done.
Transfer of rights to the new DSO
When transferring control of a metering grid area to another DSO, the new DSO receives the right to all metering grid area’s exchange point-, production unit-, accounting point- and their grid agreement data affected by the transfer. The new DSO also has the right to all this data’s change history, which is registered in Datahub. The new DSO thus also has the right to this change information from an event period when it itself was not responsible for the control of the metering grid area in question. The right of the present DSO to the data is ended up to the day when control of the metering grid area is transferred to another grid company.
The transfer of control of the metering grid area must also be taken into account with regard to information exchange for market processes. Market process-related information exchange is done with the new DSO for all metering grid area data from the time when ownership of the metering grid area is transferred to the new DSO.
Rights to accounting point data
In accordance with the data model, accounting points are not directly connected to the DSO. The right to accounting points and their data always comes through the metering grid area. A change in the ownership of a metering grid area thus also transfers data ownership with regard to accounting points. The new DSO of a metering grid area will have the right to accounting point data throughout the history of the accounting point.
Imbalance settlement
The transfer of control of a metering grid area to another party does not directly affect imbalance settlement calculations, as the metering points are not transferred from one metering grid area to another. A situation in which the metering points are transferred from one metering grid area to another is described separately in chapter Division and merging of metering grid areas. With regard to imbalance settlement, information about a metering grid area’s DSO primarily affects what data the party has a right to in Datahub. To this extent, the data also affects what data in Datahub events is transmitted to each DSO. The present DSO has a right to imbalance settlement data (at the message interface or a user interface provided by Datahub) only up to the day when the metering grid area is transferred to the new DSO. The new DSO has a right to all the historical data of the imbalance settlement. This also concerns data on which supplier has at one time or another been the loss supplier of a metering grid area or the imbalance open supplier. When transferring control to a new DSO, Datahub will ensure that the imbalance settlement data is reported to both the new and present grid owners in accordance with their rights.
Changing the party responsible for the metering grid area must also be agreed in advance with eSett.
Calculating balance deviations
The calculation of balance deviations must take into account a change in DSO controlling a metering grid area. This is because balance deviation invoicing is the responsibility of the DSO and has a direct impact on the finances of the grid company. It must be possible to perform the balance deviation calculations for the previous DSO of a metering grid area until the day when responsibility for the metering grid area is transferred to the new party. It must be possible to do this separately from a general calculation performed for the whole market. Because of this, it is ensured that the present DSO will not need to wait months for the processing of balance deviations, for example in cases where the business of the present DSO terminates completely with regard to the company in question. After the transfer of the metering grid area and its separate related balance deviation calculation, the new DSO is responsible for all new balance deviations throughout the history of the metering grid area. Because of this, from Datahub’s perspective balance deviations concerning the period of control of the previous grid company, which are not noticed and registered until after the transfer, are always recorded to the new DSO. The grid companies may naturally, however, separately agree amongst themselves on which of the companies is financially responsible for these deviations that are retrospectively identified.
Process diagram for transferring control of a metering grid area
The diagram below describes the phases of transferring the control of a metering grid area to another DSO in Datahub
Division and merging of metering grid areas
This chapter deals with situations in which control of a metering grid area remains with the same grid owner, but one or more metering points (accounting points, exchange points or production units) are transferred to another metering grid area. The matters described in this chapter also apply to a situation in which a metering grid area is divided, and the division creates a completely new metering grid area to which metering points are transferred. The metering points may be transferred either to another metering grid area of the same grid company or to a metering grid area under the control of a completely different grid company. In Datahub data model, these changes concern the relation between the metering grid area and the metering points (see figure below). Information about which metering grid area the metering point has belonged to at any given time will be stored in Datahub.
Insofar as the control of certain accounting points and their grid agreements is transferred to another grid company, the same principles are observed for rights and information exchange as described about them in the previous chapter.
Next, we will review necessary actions separately for each type of metering point.
Accounting points
The transfer of accounting points to another metering grid area must always be agreed well in advance at least a month before the actual transfer date with Datahub personnel. If the accounting points are transferred to the metering grid area of another grid owner, procedures are the same as in a situation where all accounting points in a metering grid area are transferred to the metering grid area of another DSO (see chapter 0). Datahub operator implements the transfer of the accounting points and grid agreements to the new metering grid area with the transfer file as described in the earlier chapterIf an accounting point is transferred from one metering grid area to another belonging to the same grid owner, the transfer is done by using the same principles described earlier.
Exchange points
In Datahub, exchange points are always between two defined metering grid areas. In Datahub it is not possible separately to change either metering grid area to which the exchange point is connected. In practice, when part of a metering grid area is transferred to another metering grid area, new exchange points must be created in Datahub between the two metering grid areas related to the case. In such situations, there is basically no need to terminate the existing exchange points. If, however, two metering grid areas are merged, in practice the exchange points between these two metering grid areas must be terminated. Control of exchange points is the direct responsibility of DSOs, and DSOs may perform necessary actions to that extent in the user interface provided by Datahub.
Production units
A DSO may create new production units in the user interface provided by Datahub. The processing of production units, however, differs from exchange points so that it is not possible to apply the termination and creation of a production unit in metering grid area changes. With regard to production units, an existing production plant should otherwise have more GSRN codes, and metering data should be divided into several metering time series for the production plant in question. The transfer of a production unit to another metering grid area is always done by the Datahub operator. This action also requires changes in the eSett system and the Datahub operator agrees on the execution of these changes with eSett.
Imbalance settlement
The transfer of metering points from one metering grid area to another affects imbalance settlement calculations. Metering grid area changes do not, however, require separate manual actions in connection with imbalance settlement calculations. Imbalance settlement calculations are specified so that calculation automatically takes into account which metering grid area each metering point is connected to at a given time. Changes in metering grid areas are visible in imbalance settlement calculation results, such as changes in the losses of metering grid areas. In connection with metering grid area changes, it is always advisable to monitor calculation results more closely, as possible errors in processing changes can significantly affect these results. This is also a good way of noticing possible errors.
Calculating balance deviations
Balance deviation calculation must take into account the transfer of an accounting point to another metering grid area in the same way as when changing the DSO in control of a metering grid area (see Transferring control of a metering grid area). It must be possible to perform balance deviation calculations until the day when the accounting points are transferred to the new party. If necessary, it must be possible to do this separately from a general calculation performed for the whole market.
Division and merging of MGAs under one DSOs administration
The diagram below describes the phases for handling division and merging of MGAs in Datahub, when MGAs are in controlled by the same DSO.
Division and merging of MGAs with different DSOs
The diagram below describes the phases in Datahub for handling merging of MGAs with two different DSOs, or dividing a MGA into two, when one of the two is transferred to another DSO.
Complex changes and reporting
It is possible that a change may entail both the division and merging of metering grid areas and the transfer of a whole metering grid area to another party. A situation may therefore occur where, for example, a metering grid area is divided and the existing grid owner ends its operations, and one half of the grid is transferred to a third grid company. In such situations, it is possible to apply the above-mentioned principles and actions separately in two or more stages, so that more complex changes can be processed. This concerns, for example, situations in which more than two metering grid areas are merged.
One of the most important things in this kind of large-scale processes is the communication between all parties involved in this change. The process touches many market parties and so they all need to be aware of this kind of change in good time before the actual change date.
These changes include many manual tasks for both the DSOs involved and the Datahub operator. Manual tasks are done before and after processing the transfer file. A detailed runbook of these is to be prepared, including the tasks for parties involved. The change needs to be planned well ahead so that all parties are able to do their part in the transfer and so that it does not cause any extra disturbance for other market parties. In order to avoid any changes to the accounting points in the transfer file the actual change needs to be processed during weekends.
If the updates require changes in the eSett system, Datahub must ensure the agreement and execution of the necessary changes with eSett on behalf of the DSOs. DSOs will be involved in the discussion as their participation in the process is required.