AEMO has conducted a consultation on the on the Market Ancillary Service Specification (MASS) associated with the introduction of very fast frequency control ancillary services (very fast FCAS).
This consultation was conducted in compliance with clause 3.11.2(d) of the National Electricity Rules (NER) which requires AEMO to “comply with the Rules consultation procedures when making or amending the market ancillary service specifications.”
Given the targeted scope of this review, AEMO plans to use the expedited rules consultation procedure (NER 8.9.3), with the intention being to publish an updated MASS v8.1 which would replace the MASS v8.0 which is scheduled to take effect from 9 October 2023.
Matter under Consultation
AEMO conducted a review and consultation on proposed amendments to the market ancillary services specification (MASS) to include two new Contingency FCAS; Very Fast Raise FCAS and Very Fast Lower FCAS. The MASS review focused on technical and measurement requirements for the two new FCAS markets. The MASS amendments were published on 7 October 2022.
AEMO is now conducting a focussed review aimed at revising one of the settings for Very Fast FCAS providers in the Tasmania region only. The proposed change is to modify the Frequency Ramp Rate for Tasmania from the current setting of 1 Hz/s to 2 Hz/s. The reasoning for and impact of this change is detailed in the consultation paper.
The Consultation Process
The consultation process is outlined below. Dates are indicative only and subject to change.
| Consultation steps | Dates |
| Draft reports published | 25 May 2023 |
| Procedure change request deadline | 8 June 2023 |
| Submissions due on draft reports | 23 June 2023 |
| Final reports published | 28 July 2023 |
Submissions are now closed