IENE participated in ACER’s Public Consultation for the Establishment of a Regional Coordination Centre

In its contribution IENE noted that as electricity markets across Europe continue to develop and evolve with more consumers, higher and more variable loads, electricity mix differentiation and greater complexity in view of increased digitalisation, the need to provide better and more focused and reliable coordination is becoming all the more apparent. Hence, EU’s, and ACER’sin particular, decision to set up system operation regions as part of the overall effort to improve and optimise the internal market of electricity is more than welcomed. Furthermore, ACER's proposal, backed by the TSOs, for the setting up on a priority basis the South East Europe System Operation Region, to be based in Thessaloniki, in Greece, comes at a very opportune moment as electricity market integration in the region comes closer with the anticipated implementation of the Target Model by Greece, as The Hellenic Energy Exchange gets ready to start full operation on November 1 and market coupling between Greece and Italy is scheduled to take place in the first quarter of 2021.

As explained in the posted ACER document, it seemsthat the framework and the tasks for the establishment of the Regional Coordination Centre (RCC) in the SEE System Operation Region are complete with regard to the operation of the transmission system and the internal market for electricity in the various countries which the RCC will cover.

However, in Article 5, Organisational and Operational Arrangements, and in addition to the tasks described in Article 10, more emphasis should be placed in two specific areas in supporting the TSOs and the region’s transmission system and the overall operation of the market:

·In the organizational structure, due to the specific geography of the SEE region and the countries involved, the setting up of a team dedicated to the expansion of the existing transmission capacity, new transmission lines and the extension of the European system to the Eastern Mediterranean countries, including Cyprus, Israel, Egypt, would be extremely useful. This team should have a clear agenda to look intoexpansion prospects and be able to outline market opportunities and identify technical challenges.

·In view of the growingnumber of cyberattacks and hacking incidents against public utilities over the last few years, it is of paramount interest to anticipate the need for a dedicated RCC team, which will undertake to provide expert advice and services in order to ensure the safe operation of the systems involved. The prime function of such a team will be to safeguard against cyberattacks and hackers, but also provide full support to the TSO's and the IT platforms as necessary.