Balancing Group Management

A balancing group is a virtual volume account for electricity or gas in which all inflows (generation/purchase) and outflows (consumption/supply) are balanced. It links energy trading at the virtual trading point (VTP) with the physical energy flows in the grid, with the aim of keeping the amounts of energy fed into and consumed within a defined period as balanced as possible.

Balancing groups are important because a balance between energy fed into the grid and energy consumed must be maintained at all times. This is the only way to ensure grid stability, security of supply and the smooth trading of energy. For market participants, the balancing group also serves as the key basis for planning energy flows, settling trading transactions and efficiently balancing out deviations.

Balancing group management (BGM) is relevant to all market participants who trade, generate, supply or consume electricity or gas. These include, in particular, energy suppliers, traders, industrial companies and operators of generation facilities.

Companies with their own balancing groups or complex energy portfolios require BKM to plan and balance their energy volumes correctly and to avoid costs arising from imbalances. However, not every market participant is required to maintain their own balancing group.

VNG Handel & Vertrieb offers a modular service portfolio for balancing group management (BGM): ranging from the simple administration of a balancing group, through the management and forecasting of a balancing group, to comprehensive balancing group management, including the assumption of balancing group risks. Customers can choose between standardised product packages or individually combinable modules, thereby outsourcing all or part of their BGM to VNG Handel & Vertrieb.

As a result, VNG Handel & Vertrieb’s customers benefit from reduced effort and risks, efficient processes and the support of a competent market partner with many years of practical experience and regulatory expertise – allowing them to concentrate on their core tasks.

VNG Handel & Vertrieb offers its customers a modular balancing group management (BGM) system, in which individual services can be flexibly combined or booked separately. In addition to standardised product packages, individual modules can be added as required or used entirely on their own. This enables companies to tailor their BGM precisely to their requirements – from individual services such as forecasting, data or capacity management right through to full outsourcing.