This announcement was published originally by Fingrid on 5 January 2023:
https://www.fingrid.fi/en/news/news/2023/datahub-ready-for-the-next-steps/
The electricity retail market will take significant development steps this year. Among other things, the introduction of the 15-minute imbalance settlement period in May 2023 and the enabling of 15-minute metering from the beginning of the year bring changes to Datahub’s functions as well. A change that is also of interest to consumers is readiness for the establishment of energy communities in accordance with the Finnish Government Decree. Through energy communities, housing companies, for example, can use their joint electricity production in a more versatile manner. Datahub 2.0 also enables the netting calculation of accounting point production and consumption.
“With Datahub 2.0, we support the development of the electricity retail market. Energy communities offer an interesting opportunity to promote the use of renewable energy and provide a way to share any benefits within the community. In turn, the introduction of the 15-minute imbalance settlement period will be reflected in the energy metering of all of us electricity consumers, with a gradual move from hourly to 15-minute metering periods over the coming years. The revolution of the energy system is underway, and we are ready to support the change and our customers”, says Pasi Aho, CEO of Fingrid Datahub Oy.
The version update of Datahub also improved existing functionalities, for example, in the metering and imbalance settlement processes.
Discussion about the price and adequacy of electricity increased the use of the customer portal
The public discussion about the price of electricity and monitoring one’s own consumption has also been noticed in the Datahub customer portal, which has been in frequent use during the autumn and early winter. Datahub 2.0 brought changes to the customer portal as well: going forward, in addition to your own contract and metering data, it will also be possible to monitor the data of your energy community and the netting of small-scale production.
Consumer accounting points will switch to a 15-minute metering period by the end of 2028. Distribution system operators will implement the change according to their own schedule.
Transition to 15-minute metering and imbalance settlement
Finland and Europe as a whole are moving to a shorter imbalance settlement period and towards a real-time electricity market. The balance of electricity production and consumption has been maintained in one-hour periods. By switching to a 15-minute imbalance settlement period, it will be possible to optimize the balance more accurately closer to the time of consumption and improve forecast accuracy. The background to this is the ongoing energy revolution; an increase in energy production that varies depending on the weather and a decrease in the amount of traditional, adjustable production. The transition to a 15-minute period will be implemented in exchange and reserve trading of electricity, imbalance settlement and energy metering.
Energy communities
Energy communities are consortiums of various operators, which can be established, for example, by a housing company to utilize its own electricity production or to procure electricity together. More information on establishing an energy community is provided by local distribution system operators.
Datahub
Datahub is a centralized information exchange system for the electricity retail market, storing data from 3.8 million electricity accounting points in Finland. The data stored in Datahub is used by approximately 80 electricity suppliers and approximately 80 distribution system operators as they serve electricity consumers. Datahub is administered by Fingrid Datahub Oy, which is a subsidiary of Fingrid Oyj, the Finnish transmission system operator.