Electricity suppliers and balance responsible parties

Imbalance and balance responsibility

Imbalance means an energy volume calculated for a balance responsible party and representing the difference between the allocated volume (energy volume physically injected or withdrawn) attributed to that balance responsible party and the final position (energy volume forecasted and declared) of that balance responsible party, including any imbalance adjustment applied to that balance responsible party, within a given imbalance settlement period. According to Latvian Electricity Market Law, each market participant is responsible for its own caused imbalance. Balance responsibility includes assuming responsibility for the imbalance caused by another electricity market participant (balancing service recipient).

Each balance responsible party has a designated imbalance area which includes all metering points for which the balance responsibly party is responsible for. In Latvia, there are three levels of balance responsibility:

• Only transmission system operator can assume balance responsibility for balance responsible parties;
• Any balance responsible party can assume balance responsibility for an electricity supplier, a consumer or a producer;
• Any electricity supplier that has concluded a Balancing service agreement (not to be mistaken with Ancillary services agreement) can assume balance responsibility for a consumer or a producer.

Current lists of market electricity market participants who have concluded System use agreements and electricity market participants who have concluded Balancing agreements are available below. Read more on how to become balance responsible party or electricity supplier.