Service-Level Scheduling
Overview
Once a device has been registered and assigned a Service Level, it can begin requesting energy services from the market.
Unlike traditional electricity systems, devices do not request electricity at a single instant in time.
Instead, they request the completion of an energy service within an acceptable operating window.
FP-AMM continuously schedules these services by balancing customer requirements, physical network constraints and current market conditions.
Scheduling therefore becomes a continuous coordination problem rather than a sequence of fixed dispatch decisions.
Scheduling Services Rather Than Power
Traditional electricity markets schedule electrical power.
FP-AMM schedules energy services.
For example, an electric vehicle does not simply request:
Charge now.
Instead, it requests something like:
Deliver 30 kWh before 07:00 using up to 7 kW under Service Level Gold.
Similarly, a hot water cylinder may request:
Deliver 8 kWh before 06:30.
A household battery may request:
Maintain at least 20% state of charge while remaining available for flexibility services.
Each request describes the required outcome rather than prescribing exactly when electricity must be supplied.
Customers Specify Requirements
Each service request defines the customer's requirements.
Typical information includes:
- required energy,
- earliest start time,
- latest completion time,
- maximum charging or discharge rate,
- device operating constraints,
- selected Service Level.
These requirements define the flexibility available to the market.
The customer specifies what they require.
The market determines how and when to deliver it.
Continuous Scheduling
FP-AMM continuously updates schedules as the electricity system evolves.
Every accepted transaction changes:
- renewable availability,
- network loading,
- battery state of charge,
- future commitments,
- electricity prices.
The optimal schedule therefore changes continuously.
Rather than producing a fixed charging schedule several hours in advance, FP-AMM repeatedly refines future schedules as better information becomes available.
Planning becomes a continuously evolving process.
Responding to Market Conditions
Scheduling naturally adapts to changing system conditions.
For example, during periods of abundant renewable generation:
- prices fall,
- charging becomes attractive,
- batteries absorb surplus energy,
- flexible demand increases.
Conversely, during periods of scarcity:
- prices rise,
- non-urgent services may be delayed,
- flexible devices wait for more favourable conditions.
This behaviour emerges naturally through the pricing mechanism.
No central controller needs to explicitly instruct individual devices when to operate.
Respecting Customer Commitments
Although schedules evolve continuously, customer commitments are always respected.
FP-AMM never schedules a device:
- outside its operating window,
- beyond its maximum power rating,
- outside its registered operating constraints,
- contrary to customer preferences.
Scheduling therefore remains bounded by the service requested by the customer.
The market has flexibility within these boundaries, but never outside them.
Service Levels Guide Scheduling
Service Levels influence how aggressively the market protects different services.
Higher Service Levels receive stronger scheduling guarantees.
Lower Service Levels provide the market with greater flexibility to adapt to changing operating conditions.
During normal operating conditions, all Service Levels are typically satisfied.
Only during periods of genuine scarcity do Service Levels influence scheduling decisions.
This allows flexibility to be coordinated while maintaining transparent contractual commitments.
Rolling Planning Horizon
FP-AMM uses a continuously moving planning horizon.
Rather than solving today's market independently of tomorrow's, the market always considers both current requests and future commitments.
As time progresses:
- completed services leave the schedule,
- new requests enter,
- forecasts improve,
- prices evolve,
- schedules are updated.
This rolling horizon enables the market to respond smoothly to changing conditions while avoiding unnecessary short-term decision making.
Preparing for Scarcity
Most of the time, sufficient resources exist to satisfy every requested service.
Scheduling simply determines the most efficient time to deliver each request.
Occasionally, however, multiple services compete for the same limited resources.
Several vehicles may require charging simultaneously.
A local feeder may become constrained.
Renewable generation may be lower than expected.
At these moments, the market must decide how scarce capacity should be allocated.
This is not purely a scheduling problem.
It is a fairness problem.
The following section introduces the Fair Play mechanism, which ensures that scarce resources are allocated transparently and fairly over time while respecting the Service Levels agreed with customers.