The Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) issued two opinions on the ‘Ten-Year Network Development Plan’ (TYNDP) 2022 developed by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) on Wednesday 5 April. ACER calls for improvements in more efficient network planning.
Every 2 years, European network operators submit their ‘Ten-Year Network Development Plan’ to ACER. This is in line with the need for “significant investment in cost-effective energy infrastructure to achieve the energy transition”, says ACER.
The main objectives of the TYNDP are therefore: - to identify investment gaps (including cross-border capacity); - to contribute to an adequate and non-discriminatory level of cross-border interconnections and to effective competition and efficient market functioning; - to ensure greater transparency of the European electricity transmission network. The TYNDP also provides information for the selection of projects of common interest (PCIs).
In its opinions, ACER highlights several shortcomings, such as insufficient consultations on key methodological elements, such as needs analysis, implementation and cost-benefit analysis, but also delays in the delivery of the TYNDP project, resulting in outdated data and delays in the PCI selection processes.
Secondly, ACER considers that the scope of the cost-benefit analysis, which focuses on the study year 2030 and mainly on one scenario, is insufficient, and that the starting grid (used as a starting point for the calculation of infrastructure needs) and the reference grids are not fully in line with the criteria set by ENTSO-E. In addition, the Agency points to inconsistent data on transfer capacities.
Finally, ACER mentioned that it was not able to assess whether the resilience of the system to the effects of climate change is taken into account in the draft TYNDP 2022.
To see ACER’s opinions: https://aeur.eu/f/67y (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)