Mexico defines role of energy storage in national electric system

The administrative provisions regulating the integration of EES into the National Electric System are in effect as of Monday. The incorporation of 8,412 MW of EES is planned for the 2024-2038 fiscal year.

From pv magazine Spain

The Official Gazette of the Federation of Mexico has published Agreement A/113/2024 of the Energy Regulatory Commission, which issues the General Administrative Provisions for the integration of Electric Energy Storage Systems (EES) into the National Electric System (SEN).

According to the Indicative Program for the Installation and Retirement of Power Plants (PIIRCE), the incorporation of 8,412 MW of battery energy storage systems (BESS) is planned for the 2024-2038 fiscal year.

Among other things, it establishes that electric energy storage equipment must be registered as a power plant and must be represented by a generator. Generators may bid for the sale of all products that the storage equipment is capable of producing, under the same terms as any other electric unit.

The document is the first step in a detailed regulation that will be published throughout this year, but key issues have already been announced, such as:

• An ancillary services market will be implemented to add revenue to energy arbitrage
• To operate as a firm power plant, a minimum of three hours of storage is established
• BESS are regulated in self-supply and exempt generation modes

In addition, there are five modalities for participation of BESS or EES in the electricity market:

EES associated with an isolated supply scheme, in which the SAE is incorporated into a power plant whose generation is intended for isolated supply to meet its own needs, or for the import or export of electrical energy in isolated supply mode and which requires a generation permit or authorization granted by the Commission, as applicable;

EES associated with a power plant, in which an EES is integrated into an intermittent power plant, whether existing or new, and which share the same interconnection point. Its characteristics and operating modes must comply with these provisions based on the criteria of efficiency, quality, reliability, continuity, safety, and sustainability, as well as the SEN's expansion plans;

EES associated with a load center, in which the EES is integrated into an existing or new load center, not including a power plant, and which shares the same connection point without injecting electrical energy into the SEN. In this modality, the it may receive the energy supply for its EES and load center through a supplier or participate in the wholesale electricity market (MEM);

EES associated with an exempt generator in accordance with the general administrative provisions, contract models, the compensation calculation methodology, and the general technical specifications applicable to distributed generation and clean distributed generation power plants, issued through Resolution No. RES/142/2017 published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on March 7, 2017, or any resolution that modifies or replaces it, or the instrument on Exempt Generation issued for this purpose, as applicable;

Non-associated EES: A battery-based EES not integrated into a power plant or load center, with its injection and/or consumption via the National Transmission Grid (RNT) or the General Distribution Grid (RGD) being independently monitored. This modality requires a generation permit granted by the Commission.