Offer flexible capacity through public auctions
Through GOPACS Auctions, system operators publish their demand for flexible capacity in one central location. You can view these flexibility requests through the GOPACS platform user interface or via the API.
For each request, you can see:
This allows you to quickly assess which requests may be relevant to your company or to the customers you represent as a CSP.
You can submit a bid if your flexibility meets the conditions of the request. Always check:
You can bid directly as a connected party or as a CSP on behalf of your customers. Conditions may vary between requests, so the system operator’s flexibility request is always the starting point.
The system operator publishes where flexibility is needed, for which period and how much capacity is required. Through GOPACS Auctions, you can view the requests that are relevant to you.
Check whether your connection is in the right location and whether you can provide the requested capacity during the specified period. Take into account your business processes, the availability of your installations and any other agreements regarding their use.
Specify how much flexible capacity you can offer and the compensation you require. You can view flexibility requests and submit bids through the GOPACS platform user interface or via the API.
The system operator assesses which offer best matches the flexibility request. Factors such as usage profile, efficiency and costs are taken into account.
If your bid is selected, you and the system operator formalise the agreements in a Capacity Steering Contract (CSC). This includes agreements on availability, activation and compensation.
You then provide the agreed flexibility by adjusting your electricity consumption or production in accordance with the contract. Verification and compensation take place as specified in the CSC.
GOPACS Auctions is a feature on the GOPACS platform that allows system operators to publicly request flexible capacity. This brings together system operators’ demand for flexibility and market parties’ available capacity in one central location.
A request can relate to occasional activation or to a need for flexibility over a longer period. It concerns capacity steering: agreements with a system operator to adjust electricity consumption or production at specific times.
As a market party, you can see which requests match the flexibility you can provide. In your bid, you specify how much capacity you can make available and the compensation you require. As a CSP, you can arrange this on behalf of your customers.
GOPACS Auctions therefore provides a way to establish agreements on the use of flexibility. If a bid is selected, these agreements are formalised in a CSC between the company and the system operator.
GOPACS Auctions gives you a central overview of public demand for flexible capacity. You can see where system operators need flexibility and assess which requests match your capabilities.
A public flexibility request clearly sets out what the system operator needs. This helps you determine whether you can participate and at what level of compensation providing the flexibility is viable for you.
You decide which requests you want to bid on. This allows you to take into account your business processes, the availability of your installations and, if you are a CSP, the capabilities within your portfolio.
If your bid is selected and you enter into a CSC, you receive compensation in accordance with the agreements in the contract and help relieve congestion on the electricity grid at the relevant location.
Participation offers opportunities, but it also requires a realistic understanding of the flexibility you can provide.
Benefits
Points to consider
GOPACS Auctions is relevant to large business customers with flexible electricity consumption or controllable production, as well as CSPs that offer this flexibility on behalf of their customers.
Examples include:
Whether you can bid on a specific flexibility request depends on the conditions of that request. Always check the required location, period, capacity and any other applicable conditions.
The example below shows how participation could work in practice.
A system operator is looking for flexible capacity in an area where large amounts of electricity are fed into the grid at certain times. Through GOPACS Auctions, the system operator publishes a flexibility request specifying the location, required period and amount of capacity needed.
A solar farm in the relevant area can reduce its production during the requested periods. The solar farm’s CSP submits a bid specifying the available capacity and the required compensation.
The system operator selects the bid. The solar farm and the system operator formalise their agreements in a CSC. The solar farm then reduces its feed-in in accordance with those agreements and receives the agreed compensation. In this way, the solar farm helps reduce the load on the local electricity grid.
Would you like to offer flexible capacity or participate as a CSP on behalf of your customers? View the flexibility requests that are currently open and assess which requests match your capabilities.
You can view flexibility requests and submit bids through the GOPACS platform user interface. Would you like to automate this process? You can also use the API.
View current flexibility requests
View the manual
View the API documentation in the Developer Portal
Do you have questions about GOPACS Auctions? Contact us.
A published request from a system operator for flexible capacity at a specific location and for a specific period.
Flexible capacity is the ability to temporarily adjust electricity consumption or generation in response to the needs of the grid. This means an installation can, at certain moments, consume less electricity, generate more, or temporarily shut down. Flexible capacity helps keep the grid balanced and prevents overload—also known as grid congestion.
A Congestion Service Provider (CSP) is a market party that deploys flexible capacity on behalf of one or more connected parties to help resolve grid congestion.
A CSP connects flexibility to the market and fully unburdens the customer.
A capacity steering contract (CSC) is an agreement in which a party makes flexible capacity available and deploys it at agreed times or upon request by the grid operator to relieve the electricity grid.
With a CSC, you help prevent congestion by temporarily adjusting your feed-in or off-take when the grid requires it. In return, you receive compensation for both availability and the deployment of flexibility.
One day in advance. For capacity steering on request, the system operator announces no later than the day before activation how much flexibility is required.
You no longer have to wait for individual requests or bilateral processes. On one central platform, you can see where, when and how much flexibility system operators are looking for in both the short and longer term.
You view the published request for each location and submit a bid specifying the compensation you require for making the capacity available and/or activating it. If demand and supply are matched, the agreements are formalised in a CSC.
During the beta phase, you can view and manage flexibility requests and bids through the central user interface on the GOPACS platform. Additional specifications for automated message flows will be shared during the preparation phase.
Yes. Through GOPACS Auctions, system operators can publish flexibility requests for both consumption and feed-in congestion. Depending on the congestion situation, market parties may be asked to temporarily increase or decrease electricity consumption or feed-in. The aim is for the flexibility provided to help relieve pressure on the electricity grid at the relevant location.
System operators’ flexibility requests are published for specific locations and grid levels.
When demand and supply are matched, the winning bid results in the flexible capacity being reserved and a CSC being concluded between your customer and the relevant system operator.
No. Participation in the GOPACS platform and submitting bids in auctions are free of charge.
Through GOPACS Auctions, we aim to provide greater transparency about public flexibility requests and their results. We are still working out exactly what information about these results will be made available and at what level of detail. These insights can help CSPs and connected parties gain a better understanding of the market for flexible capacity.
With every market request you are obliged to place a flex-bid. The income depends on market prices.
You offer flexibility whenever it suits you. Successful bids generate a fee per activated megawatt hour.
