On Monday 6 October, the European Commission approved, under EU State aid rules, an Austrian scheme to safeguard the country’s security of electricity supply.
This scheme will support security of electricity supply for five years starting in October 2026. This is an extension and update of the existing network reserve which was approved in 2021 and will end in 2026 (see EUROPE 12750/15).
The new scheme includes monthly contracts and other updates designed to increase participation of small resources, in particular electricity consumers who can provide demand response by reducing energy use. The scheme will support electricity capacity that remains in reserve outside the market and is ready to be activated by system operators whenever there is insufficient transmission capacity to match generation and demand (‘transmission congestion’). In this case, the system operators cut capacity in the parts of the bidding zone where there is a surplus of supply and activate it where there is a deficit. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)