Glossary


A

Ancillary services
Ancillary services (also referred to as "system services") are the incidental services required to ensure reliable operation of transmission systems. In particular, these include system coordination, balance group management, primary control, black start and isolated operation capability, voltage support (incl. reactive energy), operational measurement and compensation of active power losses.

B

Balance group management
A balance group is a measuring and billing unit used by the transmission system operator (TSO). Each balance group covers an undefined number of market players and their metering points.

b

booster refrigeration system (Trans-critical)
A compressor system with two external pressure levels which can deliver refrigerated air to all refrigeration points in a system at the required temperatures. -> http://www.alpiq.ch/news-storys/storys/stories.jsp?story=tcm:103-63350-16

C

Combined heat and power station
A combined heat and power station (or cogeneration plant) generates electricity and heat from a primary energy source such as oil, gas or coal. It is typically a thermal power station. Depending on the size of the facility, these plants are also referred to as heating power stations or unit heating power stations.
Commodity
A commodity is the name used to denote a product, physical substance or raw material such as oil, coal or gas.
Contracting
Contracting is the outsourcing of tasks to an external service provider. Forms of contracting are delivery, plant, energy or heat contracting.

E

ElCom
ElCom (Swiss Federal Electricity Commission) is the federal regulatory authority for the Swiss electricity market and monitors compliance with the Electricity Supply Act.
Electricity market liberalisation
Electricity market liberalisation is a government programme to liberalise the electricity market for providers and customers.
Electricity Supply Act
The Electricity Supply Act governs the liberalisation of the Swiss electricity market. Switzerland is liberalising the electricity market in two stages. Since 2009, customers with an annual consumption of more than 100 MWh have been free to choose their energy supplier. The second stage, which will extend liberalisation to all electricity consumers, is scheduled to come into force in 2013.

F

Feed-in tariff FIT
The feed-in tariff or compensatory feed-in remuneration is an increased feed-in tariff for new renewable energies. The FIT applies to the following technologies: hydroelectric power up to 10 megawatts, photovoltaic/solar power, wind power, geothermal, biomass and waste from biomass

G

Gas-fired combined cycle power station
A gas-fired combined cycle power station (CCGT) combines a gas turbine process and a steam turbine process. In the gas turbine process, a gas-fired gas turbine drives a generator to produce electricity. The hot exhaust gases from the gas turbine are fed to a heat recovery steam generator to generate steam, which in turn drives a steam turbine to generate electricity. The advantage of combining the two processes is the high efficiency of around 60 per cent.

H

Heating power station
Like a unit heating power station, a heating power station uses a combined heat and power generation process to produce both electricity and heat.

M

Market Coupling
Cross-border trading in electricity is constrained due to transmission congestion, because the European transmission grid was designed for reciprocal relief of an interconnector rather than for Europe-wide electricity trading. Consequently, the transmission capacity available at the borders is insufficient to meet current demand. In market coupling, spot trading in electricity on both sides of the congestion point, coupled with auctioning of hourly transmission rights, is carried out to optimise the use of transmission capacities that are in short supply. With this procedure, power exchanges rather than electricity traders take part in the auction. If an electricity trader wants to export electricity from country A to country B, he sells the electricity on the spot exchange of country A and buys it back on the spot exchange of country B.

O

Offshore wind farm
An offshore wind farm is a wind farm in the sea, for example in the North Sea, usually consisting of several wind generators.
Origination
Origination is a mergers & acquisitions term used to denote client and investment acquisition. In the energy industry, the origination department develops customised, short- and long-term transactions with market counterparties such as utilities, transportation companies and other large wholesale commodity consumers and producers. It also acquires physical and contractual assets that enhance the trading desk's capabilities.
OTC business
OTC (over-the-counter) trading denotes financial deals effected between financial market participants outside the exchange.

P

Pellet system
A pellet system is a heating system which uses wood pellets as the primary energy source.
Process steam
Process steam is steam from a steam turbine process which is sold by a power station for other applications, such as chemical processes, industrial production or district heat supply.
Pumped storage power station
Pumped storage power stations operate like storage power stations. Water fed from a reservoir at a higher elevation drives turbines in a power station at a lower elevation, which in turn deliver electricity through a generator. The available water comes not only from natural inflows. Electrically powered pumps pump water from a lower reservoir up to the higher storage reservoir. The advantages of pumped storage power stations are their flexibility and their ability to generate electricity on demand within a few minutes.

R

Renaturation measure
Renaturation measures are measures taken to restore natural environments and landscapes to their former states. The term is usually used in connection with streams, rivers and lakes.
Run-of-river power station
A run-of-river power station uses the flow of a stream or river to generate electricity. Since this type of power station is typically a low-head plant, low-pressure turbines are usually used.

S

Solar thermal
Solar thermal is the term used to denote the harnessing of energy from sunlight in the form of heat. Mirrors are usually used to concentrate the sunlight onto water or another medium. The heat generated by the concentrated solar radiation can be used to generate electricity in a steam turbine process.
Spot and futures exchange
The spot exchange is an institutionalised short-term market. In electricity trading, spot transactions are conducted within hours or, at the most, days. In contrast, only forward contracts and derivatives are traded on the futures exchange.

T

Transmission charge
A transmission charge is the price charged for the use of an operator's transmission network.

U

Unbundling
Unbundling means the separation of accounts for electricity generation and transmission. Unbundling is a criterion for transparent liberalisation of electricity markets.
Unit heating power station
Unit heating power stations (UHPS) work on the principle of combined heat and power generation, producing both electricity and heat. The combustion engine powers a generator to produce electricity. Petrol or diesel engines are typically used. The waste heat from the engines is utilised for heat supply.

W

Water rates
In Switzerland, water belongs to the cantons. Operators of hydroelectric power stations pay the cantonal and/or local authorities water rates in return for using the water.
Wind farm
A wind farm converts the kinetic energy of wind to electrical energy.