Grid management ensures that electricity generation and consumption are always in balance for a stable electricity grid. In practice this is difficult, because the electricity traders cannot predict exactly what quantities of electricity their customers will consume. Forecasting mistakes made by the electricity traders must be compensated for by the respective generation reserves through balancing power.
Through close cooperation with the other German transmission grid operators, transpower contributes to keeping the total demand for balancing power as low as possible.  Since 2001, we have procured balancing power in an open, transparent and discrimination-free market. It is procured during a bidding competition (www.regelleistung.net) in the German balancing power market with the involvement of numerous bidders - both power plant operators as well as power customers.