A number of European electricity transmission system operators (TSO) have agreed on steps to further strengthen cooperation in order to optimise electricity exchange capacity between different grids.
TSOs Amprion (Germany), Elia (Belgium), REE (Spain), RTE (France), Swissgrid (Switzerland), TenneT (Netherlands), Terna (Italy) and TransnetBW (Germany) have established a “ joint action plan to ensure an efficient and harmonised usage of the power system resources” they said in a joint statement.
As part of the plan, the TSOs will be in “constant contact through a newly-created catalogue of extraordinary measures” which include, among others, the postponement of some maintenance works and the increase of the intraday capacity from Switzerland to France.
“The objective of this enhanced coordination is to optimise electricity exchange capacities between countries, so as to meet the needs of energy suppliers and limit the risk of power cuts when the supply-demand balance in different countries comes under strain at critical days” they said.
Moreover, maintenance works on the transmission lines most heavily impacting on cross-border exchanges “have been rescheduled in an optimal way to boost electricity exchange capacity between countries and thus draw maximum benefit from the pooling of European generating facilities” they added.
The deployment of these new measures comes in addition to the existing mutual assistance arrangements between TSOs, they explained, adding that “the speed with which these supplementary measures are being set up is a further demonstration of the already implemented Regional Security Initiatives effectiveness and the commitment of European TSOs to strengthening cooperation and solidarity mechanisms, particularly during periods marked by challenges to the electricity system.”