On Monday 21 September, the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether a Belgian capacity mechanism to safeguard security of electricity supply is in line with EU State Aid rules.
Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said that if capacity mechanisms “are not well-designed, they may cause higher electricity prices for consumers, give undue advantages to certain energy operators or hinder electricity flows across EU borders”.
Belgium notified the Commission of its plans to introduce a national market-wide capacity mechanism to incentivise energy capacity providers to offer their availability to the transmission system operator (TSO).
The Commission is concerned that: - the planned aid may go beyond what is necessary, which could lead to over-procurement of capacity; - the measure may discriminate against certain technologies (including renewable capacities) or unfairly limit participation of cross-border capacities. The European Commission will also examine whether the congestion revenues that the TSO would derive from the access rights for foreign capacity providers to participate in the capacity mechanism would be allocated in a way that effectively incentivises further interconnection between Belgium and its neighbouring countries. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)