The ‘APE – Appunti di Energia’ (energy notes) series by RSE continues with a new issue. This month, Imma Serra, a researcher with RSE’s Energy Systems Development Department – Energy Markets Regulation Group, focuses on the functioning and peculiarities of the Market for Dispatching Services (MDS).

In this market, the Italian Grid Operator, as the main counterparty, procures the services necessary to ensure proper management of the electricity system and the quality of the service it offers.

It uses a pay-as-bid pricing mechanism, i.e., each accepted bid receives exactly the requested price. Therefore, unlike the DAM – Day-Ahead Market and the IM- Intraday Market, it has different price levels for each traded service and for each market session. Price trends on MDS are in any case linked to the price on energy markets.

Currently, participation in the MDS is subject to particularly stringent technical requirements, resulting in a rather limited number of resources enabled to provide ancillary services. The recent reform of the Integrated Text on Electricity Dispatching, effective January 1, 2025, provides for broader participation of resources, in accordance with the principle of technology neutrality.

The net charge incurred by Terna for the procurement of dispatching resources in the MDS is charged in full to end consumers in their electricity bill.

Would you like to learn more? This month’s APE has all the answers to the questions in the picture.