The Balancing Mechanism (BM) has played a fundamental role in keeping the GB power system stable since its introduction in 2001. By paying participants to increase or reduce their generation or demand, the BM makes small adjustments on top of the wider wholesale market and balances the electricity market in real-time.
The BM sees a wide range of participants, from traditional fossil fuel peaking plants to more recent flexibility players like batteries and demand side response units. It is mandatory for transmission-connected wind farms to register as a BM unit, but in recent years the BM has also opened up to smaller, distribution-connected projects.