Unicorn Systems Enhances MARI: Key Upgrades Improve User Experience and Security

Unicorn Systems has successfully completed the technical upgrade of the MARI platform, a key system for the European balancing electricity market. This upgrade introduced significant improvements to both the user interface (front end) and the system’s underlying infrastructure (back end). All changes were designed to adopt the latest technologies, ensure secure platform operation, and enhance the platform’s reliability and resilience for the future.

What is MARI?

MARI, short for the Manually Activated Reserves Initiative, is an initiative designed to enable the sharing of manually activated reserves (mFRR) across Europe. Simply put, it’s a service facilitating the trading of balancing energy between European countries. This initiative is defined by the European Commission in Regulation (EU) 2017/2195 – the Electricity Balancing Guideline (EBGL). Its implementation involves cooperation among transmission system operators (TSOs), who are also clients of the platform provided by Unicorn Systems.

The MARI platform serves as a key tool for achieving the goals of the EBGL and forms the foundation of the European electricity balancing market. Thanks to its classification as Critical Information Infrastructure, the system operates without interruptions. This ensures 24/7/365 availability and it’s supported by continuous service through First-Line and Second-Line Support.

Project goals

Completed this year, the MARI V7 technological upgrade aimed to achieve the following objectives:

• Transition to the latest versions of technologies in both the system’s infrastructural and application layers.
• Enhance platform security.
• Implement the latest version of the graphical user interface for end-users.
• Expand the number of testing environments to enable simulations for specific business events.

Upgrade Process

The upgrade took place across various system levels and environments. The key steps included:

• Migrating to the latest versions of application servers (including updates to the latest versions of Java and Node.js) and a comprehensive update of runtime stack components.
• Addressing identified system vulnerabilities.
• Upgrading Mongo and Percona databases to the latest versions.
• Modernising the “off-the-shelf” components for the energy market developed by Unicorn.
• Transiting to a new version of the graphical user interface.

The upgrade process was designed to enable gradual implementation across the system’s individual environments. These included several internal environments for development, bug fixing, and testing, as well as external environments intended for end-users. The most important external environments included testing platforms and the critical production environment.

The entire process was extremely demanding in terms of coordination and execution, as the environments were not entirely independent. Transitioning to the new version of each individual technology required careful planning to ensure compatibility across all interconnected components.

One of the project’s most significant technological challenges was the system’s complex architecture combined with the requirement for uninterrupted operation. The MARI platform, classified as Critical Information Infrastructure, must maintain extremely high availability. This involves ensuring system operations across independent data centres, where even a complete outage of one centre cannot impact the platform’s performance or availability.

The complex architecture was particularly evident when upgrading the database systems. These databases are distributed across various stateful containers, significantly complicating the planning and execution of the necessary upgrade steps. Furthermore, the platform relies on multiple database systems (the Mongo object store, Mongo binary store, and Percona DB), adding to the complexity while ensuring compatibility between the different versions.

User Interface Modernisation

The project also included an update to the graphical user interface, transitioning to the next generation of the system. This change introduced two key challenges:

1. Technological Obstacle: Migrating to new graphical components and upgrading the React framework from version 16 to version 18. This update enabled the adoption of a more modern approach with hook-based components, resulting in a noticeable improvement in the user interface’s responsiveness.

2. End-User Acceptance: TSO dispatchers who actively use the MARI platform were accustomed to the existing interface. Therefore, it was crucial to familiarise them with the proposed changes in a timely and effective manner. Throughout the process, we emphasised active user involvement and continuous communication. Initially, static visual drafts of pages and forms were prepared, approved by the client, and subsequently validated by the end users themselves. Development began based on these approved designs, during which some components were updated while others were completely replaced.

After development and internal testing were completed, the new user interface was presented to end users as a demo version. The presentation included showcasing new features such as improved filter functionality, intuitive navigation through key use-case scenarios, button colour consolidation, and a clearer menu structure.

The resulting feedback exceeded expectations. The new interface was quite well received by dispatchers, with no complaints or requests for redesign. It’s worth noting that both the design and implementation adhered to the Unicorn GDS (Graphical Design System), which ensures a unified visual style for the platform.

Key Improvements in the New Interface:

• Highlighted Buttons: Primary functions are emphasised to ensure intuitive system navigation.
• Autocomplete Suggestions: For faster parameter selection.
• Responsive Filters: Enable quicker display of required data.

Coordination and Challenges

The project placed high demands on coordination and communication with end-users. A key challenge was also synchronising with the planned connection of new transmission system operators (TSOs) to the platform, which required extensive integration testing. Integrating individual countries into the platform involved simulations running in a 24/7 mode. However, this need for the test environments to remain continuous frequently clashed with ongoing infrastructure interventions, which were an integral part of the project itself.

Connecting New Participants

Despite all the challenges, the V7 project was successfully completed, and the regulatory goals set for 2024 were met. These included connecting several key participants in the European balancing market, namely France, the Baltic States, Spain, and other countries. Connecting the individual TSOs took place according to the following schedule:

• RTE (France): July 18, 2024
• Elering (Estonia): October 2, 2024
• AST (Latvia): October 4, 2024
• Litgrid (Lithuania): October 8, 2024
• REN (Portugal): November 27, 2024
• SEPS (Slovakia): November 27, 2024
• RE (Spain): December 10, 2024

The MARI V7 project represents an important milestone in the development of the European balancing market. By implementing the latest technologies and the enhanced user interface, we’ve managed to increase efficiency, security, and user comfort. This project will serve as the foundation for the platform’s further development and the successful integration of additional TSOs.

If you’re interested in the other energy projects we’re currently working on, please visit our website.

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