Role of balancing service providers
Article 16
1. A balancing service provider shall qualify for providing bids for balancing energy or balancing capacity which are activated or procured by the connecting TSO or, in a TSO-BSP model, by the contracting TSO. Successful completion of the prequalification, ensured by the connecting TSO and processed pursuant to Article 159 and Article 162 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1485 shall be considered as a prerequisite for the successful completion of the qualification process to become a balancing service provider pursuant to this Regulation. 2. Each balancing service provider shall submit to the connecting TSO its balancing capacity bids that affect one or more balance responsible parties. 3. Each balancing service provider participating in the procurement process for balancing capacity shall submit and have the right to update its balancing capacity bids before the gate closure time of the procurement process. 4. Each balancing service provider with a contract for balancing capacity shall submit to its connecting TSO the balancing energy bids or integrated scheduling process bids corresponding to the volume, products, and other requirements set out in the balancing capacity contract. 5. Any balancing service provider shall have the right to submit to its connecting TSO the balancing energy bids from standard products or specific products or integrated scheduling process bids for which it has passed the prequalification process pursuant to Article 159 and Article 162 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1485. 6. The price of the balancing energy bids or integrated scheduling process bids from standard and specific products pursuant to paragraph 4 shall not be predetermined in a contract for balancing capacity. A TSO may propose an exemption to this rule in the proposal for the terms and conditions related to balancing set-up pursuant to Article 18. Such an exemption shall only apply to specific products pursuant to Article 26(3)(b) and be accompanied with a justification demonstrating higher economic efficiency. 7. There shall be no discrimination between balancing energy bids or integrated scheduling process bids submitted pursuant to paragraph 4 and balancing energy bids or integrated scheduling process bids submitted pursuant to paragraph 5. 8. For each product for balancing energy or balancing capacity, the reserve providing unit, the reserve providing group, the demand facility or the third party and the associated balance responsible parties pursuant to Article 18(4)(d), shall belong to the same scheduling area.