Spinning reserve is generation capacity that is held in reserve but ready to respond quickly if another generator suffers an unexpected outage. This helps maintain an uninterrupted supply of electricity to customers.
Synergy is the default provider of the Spinning Reserve Ancillary Service in the Wholesale Electricity Market in the South West Interconnected System.
Margin Peak and Margin Off-Peak parameters are used in the Ancillary Service settlement calculations to compensate Synergy for the costs it incurs in providing spinning reserve. These parameters are calculated annually for each financial year.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) must submit proposed values for the margin value parameters to the ERA by 30 November each year. Once received, the ERA publishes an issues paper, and invites stakeholders to comment on the proposed margin values.
The ERA must determine the values for the Margin Peak and Margin Off-Peak parameters by 31 March to apply in the next financial year.
