Belgium’s balancing market just got a boost with the launch of Dexter Energy’s Renewables Optimization for short-term traders. The AI-powered solution provides advanced strategies for curtailing renewables.
The launch follows multiple successful implementations in the Netherlands, where our customers reduced balancing costs by up to €3/MWh produced. The Belgian and Dutch setups show similarities that make trading in the balancing market — also known as passive balancing — possible and interesting. However, there are important differences that are key to successful trading strategies.
In the Netherlands, short-term traders must navigate a specific challenge: dual pricing or regulation state 2. It occurs when the TSO needs up and down regulation volumes at the same time. In Belgium, there is no dual pricing; however, the market tends to be shallower than in the Netherlands, with a considerable frequency of negative prices.
Internal backtests conducted for different portfolios in Belgium indicate that Renewables Optimization can significantly increase trading revenues. In particular, this market shows high curtailment potential. For example, a backtest for curtailing a 1MW wind portfolio over 21 months (2022 – 2023) resulted in a 60% capture of perfect profit.
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