ACER grants Dutch regulator six additional months to decide on electricity cross-zonal risk hedging opportunities
ACER grants Dutch regulator six additional months to decide on electricity cross-zonal risk hedging opportunities
What is it about?
On 18 February 2024, the Dutch National Regulatory Authority (NRA), Autoriteit Consument & Markt (ACM), requested a six-month extension from ACER to adopt coordinated decisions with the Norwegian NRA (NVE-RME) on electricity cross-zonal risk hedging opportunities.
ACER has now granted the requested six-month extension to ACM. The EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) will decide on the extension request for NVE-RME, based on a draft from ACER, following the procedure of the Third Energy Package as outlined in the EEA Agreement.
What are the coordinated decisions about?
The Regulation on forward capacity allocation requires the Dutch and Norwegian NRAs to assess whether the electricity forward market in their respective bidding zone provides sufficient hedging opportunities. If these opportunities prove insufficient, the NRAs must take coordinated decisions to either:
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introduce long-term transmission rights or
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task Transmission System Operators (TSOs) with implementing alternative measures to improve cross-zonal hedging opportunities.
Adopting coordinated decisions is important to ensure that the electricity forward market provides adequate hedging opportunities to market participants, which contributes to stabilising electricity prices.
What are the next steps?
ACM has until 19 August 2024 to take coordinated decisions with NVE-RME on cross-zonal risk hedging opportunities.