Ref. Ares(2021)4296942 - 01/07/2021
Task Force Critical Grid Situations
Electricity Coordination Group meeting 18 January 2018
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In January 2017, an unexpected cold spell caused
extreme temperatures in eastern and western
European countries. The core period of cold
weather in eastern Europe was observed in the
second week, and it reached the western
European countries in the third and fourth week of
January 2017.
Extreme temperatures led to increased demand,
unplanned outages of lines (e.g. in Italy) and tense
electricity generation. Markets were tight and the
remaining available generation capacity low - or
temporarily zero - in some countries. Emergency
measures were taken by TSOs to ensure
uninterrupted supply and secure system
operations.
Market situation during the cold spell in France,
Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Greece,
Romania and Bulgaria is described on following
slides.
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Task Force Scope
1. Examine the preliminary Conclusions and Recommendations from the Cold
Spell Report
2. Develop a programme for implementation of process improvements (including
the actions, the owner of the actions and the time-frame for implementation)
3. Implementation of process improvements for any Critical grid Situation
4. Analyse the market impacts of the Cold Spell
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Definition of Critical Grid Situation (CGS)
A Critical Grid Situation is a potential emergency
state, c.f. SO GL article 18(3), identified in the
operational planning phase. During a Critical Grid
Situation the available regular countermeasures are
exhausted and therefore TSO(s) are required to
take regionally coordinated extraordinary
countermeasures.
Definition to be applied to Operational planning and coordination (D-7 to D-1 and Intraday processes)
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Coordination Process for CGS
The
• ENTSO-E
activation
• RSCs
• TSOs
•
•
RSCs
based on the specfic
•
critical grid situations
based on the
•
definition of critical
following the specific
grid situations
rules for each area /
region
The
The triggers
coordinators
The Coordination Process for critical grid situations is defined by three main categories: the triggers, the
activation process and the coordinators (all details included in the Final Report)
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Coordination of CGS – 1 Year out until D-7
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Flowchart diagrams covering the Coordination Process during a CGS
Coordination of CGS D-7 to Intra Day
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Communication Process for CGS
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Market Impacts of the Cold Spell
Market demand: • Cold spell was unexpected, however, short-term forecasts have helped to hedge the risk of volatile markets to
some extent.
Market supply: • The supply side had been driven to its limit in certain countries in particular due to the unavailability of
generation capacities. The supply side was struggling to serve the high demand and some countries had to rely
on imports. The supply margins1 dropped to zero in some hours, but major supply disruptions did not occur.
Electricity Pricing: • Mature markets (in western Europe) behaved as expected and prices signaled the scarce situation.
Market Integration: • Market integration and coordinated actions among TSOs played a key role in dealing with extreme situations.
Without cross-border exchanges some countries, for example Belgium, Italy or Switzerland, might have faced
shortages in supply.
• Bulgaria has implemented a long-term export ban beginning from 13.01. It caused price deviations from
neighboring countries. While prices in Bulgaria stabilized, prices in Romania and Greece started to increase.
Price spreads grew continuously over January 2017.
System Balance: During the cold spell, system balance reserves were not activated to their limits (lacking data for eastern European
Markets). This indicates that the market did not rely on the balancing system even scarce situation
Please see ENTSO-E website for published Market Report – Annex to ENTSO-E Report on Managing CGS 9
Power System State of Play – January 2018
Impact of Storms on Transmission Network Integrity • High winds in early December caused some localized network disruption in
Northern France, Belgium and Slovenia but no impact on security of the
transmission system.
• Heavy snowfalls in early January caused some network disruption in the North
West of Italy and Southern Germany but had no impact on security of supply.
• High winds have caused wind generation cut out and challenges to Energy
Balancing but no impact on adequacy.
Winter Outlook identified Adequacy risk in the event of a Cold Spell. • Week’s commencing 8th and 15th January were identified as the most critical
weeks for system adequacy this winter in the event of very low temperatures
and low wind.
• All TSO’s have reported no issues with system adequacy this winter to date and
no adequacy issues are forecast for the remainder of the period.
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