Lessons from wholesale market success for system service procurement design in high renewable electricity markets

Climate action and the energy affordability and security crisis caused by the Ukrainian war have accelerated a shift towards variable renewable electricity generation, such as wind and solar power. These energy sources in turn pose new technical challenges for system operators, who must procure new services to support a renewables-based power system. Here we argue that these services have particular economic characteristics that render their optimal procurement a non-trivial exercise. Drawing on the successful collaboration between economic and technical disciplines in wholesale market design, we propose four areas where future collaboration can prove fruitful for designing and procuring the services necessary for secure system operation at high levels of renewable generation.