With reference to the current regulatory and implementation context of European energy markets, this report describes, both from a technical and economic point of view, the dispatching services currently required by European transmission network operators to ensure adequate control of network frequency and nodal voltage and the re-powering of the system after a blackout event. Particular attention is also paid to some control services or functions which have recently been implemented or are still being defined/tested by European and non-European operators whose controlled system is more affected by the penetration of non-programmable renewable sources (NPRS).

In addition to Italy, the analysis addresses some European countries considered to be of particular interest for their geographical proximity with the Italian system (Switzerland, France), similarity with the national electricity system (Spain), or development level of energy markets and dispatching services (Great Britain, Belgium, Germany). The main findings are:

• balancing services (control of network frequency) are mainly traded on the market daily or weekly through ( auctions ), whereas voltage control and re-ignition services are supplied by specific plants according to periodic auction schemes ( tenders );
• participation is almost always voluntary and extended to all types of systems;
• almost all services allow for financial recognition of availability and/or activation, with a pay-as-bid or marginal pricing scheme (otherwise the service may allow for remuneration in an administered form or no remuneration);
• demand flexibility is highly sought after in Great Britain, Belgium, Switzerland and France;
• The aggregation of distributed resources is permitted almost everywhere.

In conclusion, dispatching services (which in the past were provided exclusively by large programmable production plants) are also ensured by distributed plants (including withdrawal units), even in aggregate form. Furthermore, the continuous growth of FRNPs pushes network operators to identify new services to deal with both normal fluctuations in renewable production and significant disturbance events; this need is particularly felt in island systems such as that of Great Britain.