NOTICE DATE: May 20, 2022

NOTICE TYPE: W-A052022-01 Release Wholesale

SHORT DESCRIPTION: Implementation and Market Readiness for Fast-Frequency Response Advancement Project

INTENDED AUDIENCE: All Market Participants

DAYS AFFECTED: August-October 2022

LONG DESCRIPTION: As ERCOT prepares to implement the Fast Frequency Response Advancement (FFRA) project in Release 5, scheduled for October 2022, this notice is to communicate ERCOT's high-level implementation plans and the market readiness activities to ensure a successful launch.  Because the system interface changes will  affect all Ancillary Service Offers that are submitted, all QSEs that are qualified providers of Responsive Reserve Service (RRS), Regulation Service, and/or Non-Spinning Reserve Service will be required to demonstrate their ability to submit offers for these Ancillary Service using the new interface prior to implementation of the FFRA project.  ERCOT will be providing a test deployment of FFRA changes into the Market Operations Test Environment (MOTE) as early as August 2022.  The test Ancillary Service Offer submissions will be monitored, and beginning the third week of testing, ERCOT will publish a weekly report on the ERCOT public website identifying whether each Qualified Scheduling Entity (QSE) that is qualified to submit offers for any of the above Ancillary Services has completed the required testing.

These measures are needed to ensure the continued availability of Ancillary Services, which are critical for system reliability. ERCOT notes that, in late 2021 the implementation of the FFRA project was delayed due to a lack of system interface readiness by some Market Participants.  In response, ERCOT has been working to improve readiness communications for FFRA and other projects with market interface changes. As discussed at the April 13, 2022 TAC meeting, ERCOT is working to mitigate FFRA project risk through improved communication, testing, and readiness outreach as implementation approaches in the coming months.

As previously discussed at the 12/7/2021 FFRA workshop, the design of the FFRA implementation requires that structural changes be made to all Ancillary Service Offer submissions.  Changes are also being made to RRS-related values within the Current Operating Plan, Ancillary Service Self-Arrangement, and Ancillary Service Trade submissions. 

ERCOT has been working more closely with Market Participants through the Technology Working Group on the specific interface changes and project schedule.  ERCOT will continue to provide updates to that forum for FFRA, including specific access dates to the MOTE and go-live plans.  The important milestones to share at this point are:

• August-September 2022: MOTE availability for testing where MOTE participation will be required, monitored, and published by ERCOT.
  • Weeks 1 & 2 - No submission summary published
  • Weeks 3 & 4 - Publish submission summary by QSE (target 50% success)
  • Weeks 5 & 6 - Publish submission summary by QSE (target 75% success)
  • Week   7       - Publish submission summary by QSE (target 95% success)
• Early October 2022: FFRA Go-Live in Release 5

ERCOT appreciates the support to mitigate the risk for this implementation.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: As a reminder, the scope of FFRA is the Protocol language related to the following Nodal Protocol Revision Requests (NPRRs) and Nodal Operating Guide Revision Request (NOGRR) to be partially implemented as a part of this project:

• NPRR863, Creation of ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service and Revisions to Responsive Reserve (ERCOT Board Approved on October 9, 2019)
• NPRR1015, Clarification of DAM implementation of NPRR863 Phase 2 (ERCOT Board Approved on August 11, 2020)
• NPRR1079, Day-Ahead Market RRS / ECRS 48-Hour Report Clarification (ERCOT Board Approved on August 9, 2021)
• NOGRR187, Related to NPRR863, Creation of ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service and Revisions to Responsive Reserve (ERCOT Board Approved on October 9, 2019)

CONTACT: If you have any questions, please contact your ERCOT Account Manager. You may also call the general ERCOT Client Services phone number at (512) 248-3900 or contact ERCOT Client Services via email at [log in to unmask].

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mm/dg