Bidirectional unit (BDU) transition and cutover

The primary document for understanding the BDU cutover process and what is required of you as a BESS provider is the Bidirectional unit (BDU) transition and cutover plan. The BDU cutover fact sheet on this page provides a summary of key BDU cutover activities.

The primary document for understanding the BDU cutover process and what is required of you as a Metering Service Provider (MSP) is the Bidirectional unit (BDU) transition and cutover plan. MSPs should review closely the ‘NMI cutover’ section of this document. The NMI cutover fact sheet on this page provides a summary of key NMI cutover activities.

MSPs that are directly impacted by BDU cutover are: Meter Data Providers, Category B Meter Providers and Metering Coordinators. Distribution Network Service Providers, Transmission Network Service Providers and other Registered Network Service Providers are indirectly impacted by BDU cutover and should be aware of changes that may impacted their systems under BDU cutover.

On the participant side, the main control for successful cutover is to ensure bidding instructions requirements are adhered to. These can be found in the Bidirectional unit (BDU) transition and cutover plan. Failure to adhere to these instructions guarantees a ‘No Go’ decision by AEMO. AEMO has set checkpoints within the pre-cutover and cutover day phases to confirm a ‘Go’ or ‘No Go’ decision – these can also be found in the Bidirectional unit (BDU) transition and cutover plan activities.

While AEMO has put several safeguards in place to reduce the likelihood of a ‘No Go’ outcome, there are variable reasons that a ‘No Go’ decision may be called, such as unexpected system events which may not be known until cutover day. AEMO will be in direct contact with participants in all cases.

Yes, all BESS must complete cutover in pre-production at least 14 days prior to the production BDU cutover. AEMO recommends scheduling your pre-production cutover with AEMO as early as feasible to allow plenty of time for the ‘capability demonstration’. Please see the Bidirectional unit (BDU) transition and cutover plan for all details.

Immediately following the outcome, participants will be advised. Please see the checkpoints for ‘Go/No Go’ decisions in the Bidirectional unit (BDU) transition and cutover plan.

You will be required to reschedule your BDU cutover. AEMO will be in direct contact with participants to find a suitable reschedule date within the transition period (3 June 2024 – 3 March 2025).

In the last load/gen interval:

• Manually switching SCADA over to the BDU.
• Manually switching constraints from the BDU to the load/gen units. 
• Unsuspending the BDU for conformance monitoring and suspending the load/gen units.
  

In the first BDU interval:

• Monitoring system response to the cutover for any anomalies warranting rollback in relation to bids, demand totals, compliance monitoring, and so on.

AEMO will provide a checklist in the real-time Microsoft Teams chat on BDU cutover day to provide updates on activities as they progress.

Please review the Bidirectional unit (BDU) transition and cutover plan for details on participant activities. AEMO will be in direct, real-time contact with the participant to confirm the results of the BDU cutover as it occurs. Participants should monitor the cutover to BDU and notify AEMO as early as possible of any anomalies.

Yes – the cutover interval may appear in error. Please be aware that one trading interval during cutover time may appear in error – this is expected and normal. As a result of the cutover process, we are expecting the last load/gen DUIDs trading interval might report dispatch errors for the 2-DUID/Aggregate Dispatch Group (ADG) and the BDU DUID.

This is because Target MW is taken from the last load/gen TI solution (before the BDU cutover) but Actual MW is taken from the next TI, first BDU interval, solution (after the BDU cutover). This can be ignored.

On the cutover day, a Microsoft Teams invitation will be set up by AEMO to directly communicate with participants during the BDU cutover in real-time. This channel will provide a quick and direct way for participant-AEMO communications. AEMO will also be in regular contact with participants via email in the lead up to cutover day.

• Bids and dispatch appearing as expected (no availability and no dispatch coming through for old DUIDs; and availability on new BDU DUID).
• Switched SCADA values feeding into calculations as expected.
•  Conformance monitoring running as expected (old load/gen DUIDs suspended; BDU being monitored for conformance). 
• Acceptance of new BDU values and no downstream issues in internal systems.

While successful cutover will be called by AEMO, participants may want to monitor for some of the following and report any anomalies to AEMO following cutover:

• Valid acknowledgement of bids in new format. 
• Acceptable response time to bid submission. 
• Corresponding dispatch (no availability and no dispatch coming through for old DUIDs; and availability on new BDU DUID). 
  • Check NEM Reports for non-0 targets and FCAS enablement on the BDU in the first active interval for the BDU.
• SCADA changes as expected.

There are several activities that will need to take place in the event of a rollback which will be treated on a case-by-case basis. One key activity is participants needing to rebid all three units, effectively reversing the post-cutover BDU cutover bids back to a pre-cutover state, i.e., load/gen DUIDs rebid to available and BDU DUID rebid to unavailable. AEMO will be in direct contact in real-time with participants in the event of a rollback to advise on next steps.