On 3 May, ENTSO-E decided to proceed the trial synchronous operation of the Turkish power system with Continental Europe to its third phase, starting on 1 June. In this 11 months long, final phase of the trial, limited commercial electricity exchanges are foreseen.
The decision was taken yesterday by ENTSO-E’s Regional Group Continental Europe, representing transmission system operators (TSOs) of the Continental European synchronous area, based on a positive evaluation of the trial’s second phase which ended in mid-March.
Commercial electricity exchanges will start in June with transfers of up to 400 MW from Bulgaria, Greece and Continental Europe towards Turkey and with up to 300 MW in the reverse direction.
Capacity allocations may be increased gradually to higher levels up to the allowable technical limits, provided that successful operation has been achieved at previously allocated power exchange levels. The precise increases will be announced with appropriate market lead times by ENTSO-E and the three directly affected TSOs in Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. ENTSO-E’s Regional Group will continue monitoring thoroughly the performance of the Turkish power system, especially concerning inter-area oscillations and the performance of secondary control in order to avoid any negative impacts to regional and Europe-wide systems while achieving positive effects on security of supply and the electricity markets that are the motivation for this synchronous interconnection.
Background
On 18 September 2010 the Turkish power system was synchronized with the interconnected power systems of Continental Europe, marking the start of the parallel trial interconnection as agreed between the Turkish system operator and ENTSO-E’s TSOs HTSO, ESO-EAD, Amprion and Tennet GmbH (former Transpower). The parallel operation is achieved by two 400 kV lines to the Bulgarian system and by one 400 kV line to the Greek system.
This trial parallel operation period is organized in three phases, the first two of which have been completed successfully:
- Phase 1: Stabilization Period with no scheduled exchange of energy.
- Phase 2: Physical, non-commercial energy exchanges between the Turkish system operator and respectively the Bulgarian and the Greek TSOs in both directions and at both borders. Thus, physical electricity exchange took place without any trading involved.
- Phase 3: Upon successful completion of phases 1 and 2, limited capacity allocation for commercial electricity exchanges between Turkey and ENTSO-E’s Continental Europe Synchronous Area are allowed, according to procedures mutually agreed between Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey, and in line with EU rules and ENTSO-E procedures.
Editorial Notes
ENTSO-E is the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity, representing 41 Transmission System Operators (TSOs) from 34 countries. Founded in December 2008, it became fully operational on 1 July 2009. TSOs are responsible for the bulk transmission of electric power on the main high voltage electric networks, one of the most important infrastructure backbones of Europe’s service and industrial economy.
ENTSO-E’s legal basis is Regulation (EC) 714/2009 on electricity cross-border exchanges, mandating to draft network codes and non-binding community-wide ten-year network development plans.