ACER invites EU electricity experts to help identify and define 'structural congestion”, in electricity networks. The Regulation on capacity allocation and congestion management (CACM) defines structural congestion in rather vague terms as congestion:
ACER considers that the current definition of structural congestion needs to be improved and would benefit from quantitative criteria to better identify such congestion.
Hence, ACER seeks EU electricity network experts' views on how structural congestion should be defined quantitatively and invites them to fill in a survey by 15 June 2023.
ACER encourages interested stakeholders to join the ENTSOs’ new Stakeholder Reference Group (SRG), called ‘Scenarios ETAG’.
ACER’s Framework Guidelines (January 2023) seek to ensure robust joint scenarios for electricity and gas network development planning for the EU’s ten-year network development plans (TYNDPs).
The Framework Guidelines introduce a larger role for stakeholders in the scenarios’ preparation process with a new scenarios SRG to be facilitated by the ENTSOs.
The SRG will:
ACER expects the SRG to offer continuity beyond the biennial TYNDP cycle. ACER encourages the SRG to be involved in the TYNDP 2024 scenarios to the extent possible and formulate an evaluation of the process, while preparing the next scenarios-development cycle.
ACER calls on all interested stakeholders to sign up for the ‘Scenarios ETAG’ Stakeholder Reference Group (via the ENTSOs’ online form). ACER will be an observer to the group and will check that it can function independently as foreseen in the Framework Guidelines.
ACER publishes today the 32nd edition of its REMIT Quarterly.
The REMIT Quarterly is ACER’s main channel of communication with stakeholders on REMIT-related matters, providing updates on ACER’s REMIT activities.
REMIT (Regulation on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency) provides an EU framework for the transparency and integrity of energy markets and deters market participants from manipulating the market. It therefore has an important role in protecting the interests of companies and consumers, and ensuring trust in energy markets.
The 32nd edition of the Quarterly has an improved format and wider scope. It covers the first quarter of 2023 and features:
ENTSOG is required to publish a draft cost-benefit analysis (CBA) methodology for hydrogen infrastructure projects, in accordance with Article 11 of the recast Trans-European Networks for Energy (TEN-E) Regulation.
ACER contracted VIS Economic & Energy Consultants to conduct a study to identify recommendations for European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas’s (ENTSOG’s) future CBA methodology for hydrogen infrastructure.
The VIS study:
The recommendations have been clustered into four thematic groups:
The main findings of this study were presented during the ACER webinar on 14 April 2023.
Access the consultancy study about cost-benefit analysis for hydrogen networks.
On 19 December 2022, the national regulatory authorities (NRAs) of the Nordic Capacity Calculation Region (CCR) requested an extension to decide on the Nordic Transmission System Operators’ (TSOs’) proposed amendment to the market-based cross-zonal capacity allocation methodology.
On 14 April 2023, ACER granted an extension of six months to the Nordic CCR NRAs (Denmark, Finland, Sweden).
The market-based allocation process compares the market value of cross-zonal capacity for the electricity balancing capacity market with the forecasted market value for the day-ahead electricity market. It then allocates the capacity to the market that generates the most welfare by using the cross-zonal capacity, which:
Nordic NRAs have until 28 June 2023 to decide on the proposal of the Nordic TSOs’ for amendment to the market-based cross-zonal capacity allocation methodology.
Access the ACER Decision 09/2023 on the extension request for Nordic CCR.
Each year, the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) assesses the risks to EU security of electricity supply for up to 10 years ahead with its European Resource Adequacy Assessment (ERAA). ERAA is submitted for ACER’s decision by 1 November each year.
ACER appreciates ENTSO-E`s efforts to consult on the 2023 ERAA assumptions and data. Robust results come from robust input data and stakeholder involvement is key in ensuring it.
ACER did not approve the first two ERAAs submitted by ENTSO-E (see the links to the ACER decisions on ERRA 2021 and 2022 respectively). The ACER decisions provided recommendations to ENTSO-E to improve their subsequent ERAA.
Taking into account the experience gained in the first two years of ERAA, ACER has decided to contribute to the consultation. The aim is to transparently and concretely express ACER’s key data-related concerns to allow ENTSO-E to address them before their submission of the draft ERRA 2023 to ACER later this year.
To improve the assessment, data input needs to be:
Figure 1: ACER’s focus is consistency of data input between ERAA modules and policy goals
Cross-zonal capacities:
Climate-related assumptions:
See ACER’s reply to ENTSO-E’s public consultation on ERAA 2023.
On 4 April 2023, the regulatory authorities of the Core capacity calculation region referred to ACER two proposals from the Transmission System Operators (TSOs) in their region for amendments to the Core region electricity intraday capacity calculation methodology.
Since June 2022, intraday capacity calculation methodology in the Core region is based on a flow-based approach and is aligned with the day-ahead flow-based market coupling (see the original ACER Decision 02/2019 and the first amendment to the Decision 06/2022).
The Core region comprises 13 Member States: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
The TSOs of the Core region proposed two amendments to the intraday capacity calculation methodology to align it with the parallel Regional Operational Security Coordination (ROSC) process.
ACER intends to decide on the proposed amendments in cooperation with Core regulatory authorities and TSOs, and thus enable the first intraday flow-based capacity calculation in Europe. This will enable more efficient functioning of intraday electricity market in Core region and its further alignment with parallel congestion management processes.
ACER public consultation runs from 4 July to 1 August 2023.
ACER will decide on the amendments by 4 October 2023.
Pursuant the TEN-E Regulation (Article 11(9)), every three years ACER shall establish and publish a set of indicators and corresponding reference values for the comparison of unit investment costs (UICs) for comparable projects of the energy infrastructure categories included in Annex II.
ACER collected data from project promoters and publishes a set of UIC indicators and corresponding reference values for the comparison of unit investment costs for comparable projects of the energy infrastructure categories.
Access the Unit investment costs indicators for energy infrastructure categories.
In the course of the next two months (May-June 2023), ACER, together with PwC consultancy, will publish a complete report with the UICs indicators development background, where more information will be provided, such as analytical methodology, statistics, cost breakdown and research on cost for “new” energy infrastructure as hydrogen infrastructure, CO2 grids and electrolysers.