How the RDN (day-ahead market) works in simple words

RDN — this is a segment of the electricity market in which producers and suppliers buy and sell electricity for the next day in advance.

Every day, market participants submit applications indicating the amount of electricity they are willing to buy or sell, as well as the desired price. After processing all applications, the hourly price of electricity for the next day is formed.

This is why the cost of electricity can vary significantly depending on the time of day.

Many factors affect the price:

• • volume of electricity consumption;
• • quantity of generation from solar and wind power plants;
• • weather conditions;
• • load on the power system;
• • balance between supply and demand.

For example, the price may be lower during daytime hours when solar plants produce the most electricity. In the evening, when consumption spikes and solar generation stops, the cost of electricity usually increases.

Price fluctuations open up opportunities for more efficient use of electricity.

If a company has a solar power plant, energy storage and an energy management system, it can automatically adjust its work to hourly prices.

For example:

• • charge the accumulator in hours of cheap electricity or high generation;
• • use the accumulated energy during the most expensive hours;
• • optimize the operation of the equipment in accordance with the market situation.

This approach allows you to reduce electricity costs and use your own energy resources much more efficiently.

Tracking hourly prices manually is almost impossible, especially if the business is open 24/7.

That is why modern energy management systems automatically analyze the market situation, forecast consumption, take into account the output of the solar plant and manage the energy storage without human intervention.

As a result, the business receives not only savings, but also the opportunity to use every kilowatt of produced or purchased electricity as efficiently as possible.

With the increase in the number of solar power plants and electricity storage, more and more companies are moving from conventional consumption to active energy management.

This is why renewable energy is becoming an important part of the modern energy ecosystem, and energy management systems help businesses adapt to market changes and obtain maximum economic benefit.

The "day-ahead" market — it is a mechanism that determines the hourly cost of electricity for the next day. This opens up new opportunities for businesses: to optimize costs, to use their own generation and energy storage more efficiently, and to automate all these processes with the help of modern EMS platforms. That is why today the winners are not those who simply consume electricity, but those who know how to properly manage it.