ENTSO-E

ENTSO-E does not work in isolation but strives to co-create and to be a ‘learning’ organisation; each of our work products benefits from the input and ideas of market participants, regulators, European institutions, and other stakeholders. Be it the 10-year network development plans (TYNDPs), network codes or research and development (R&D) work, they all build on stakeholders’ expertise. Important input is regularly provided, in particular by SolarPower Europe, Wind Europe, the SEDC, distribution system operators (DSOs) (with associations CEDEC, EDSO for Smart Grids, and GEODE), generators (EURELECTRIC), traders (EFET), and consumers (IFIEC and BEUC), to name only a few, as well as the European Commission and ACER. Twenty public consultations, five major conferences, and 20 smaller events, workshops, and webinars were organised in 2016, along with many bilateral meetings. Our annual conference organised in December 2016 gathered close to 400 attendees, representing a wide range of market participants, stakeholders, and policymakers. Additionally, and for the first time, ENTSO-E organised a series of three regional conferences, addressing specific issues of the Baltic region (Vilnius, 1 June), Central-East Europe (Bratislava, 23 September) and South-East Europe (Thessaloniki, 3 November).

Launch of ENTSO-E’s Independent Advisory Council

ENTSO-E has set up, on its own initiative, an Advisory Council that will deliver its views to ENTSO-E’s Board and Assembly on ENTSO-E’s work programme and achievements, and will give opinions on whether our key products actually contribute to the energy transition and the innovation push linked to it. It is composed of nine members representing DSOs, electricity generators, consumers, traders, wind and solar renewable energy producers, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and the European Commission (with observer status). Its findings and recommendations will be made public. It met twice already, in September 2016 and February 2017.

Cooperation With EU Institutions, ACER, and EU Member States

Because it has been tasked with several legal mandates, ENTSO-E collaborates closely with the European Commission and with the ACER. Legal mandates include the preparation of the TYNDPs, the development and implementation of the network codes, and the delivery of adequacy forecasts, to name but a few. Furthermore, ACER oversees all these deliverables, which are further shaped with the input of EU member states and of the European Parliament. The year 2016 was the European Commission’s ‘year of delivery’ of the Energy Union. The Commission delivered its most substantial proposals in years with the release of its Clean Energy for All Europeans package. The increasing role of TSOs and ENTSO-E is recognised here (e.g., with the European-wide system adequacy assessment). Exchange with the European Parliament played a key role for ENTSO-E, as the institution is central in deciding on the regulatory framework for the next decade.

Upfront to the release of the package at the end of 2016, manifold discussions and debates have taken place with the European Parliament, including a meeting between ENTSO-E’s president and MEPs in Strasbourg in February or at the European Parliament’s ITRE Committee in June for a public hearing on energy market design. Additionally, as the single voice of Europe’s TSOs, ENTSO-E continued being consulted actively by the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Presidency of the Council on current work related to network codes, transmission planning, and system adequacy. ENTSO-E’s three regional conferences and annual conference in December were respectively organised under the auspices of the Dutch and Slovak Presidencies of the Council of the EU.

Renewables Grid Initiative

ENTSO-E and the Renewables Grid Initiative (RGI) signed a memorandum of understanding in May 2016. The RGI brings together NGOs and TSOs from across Europe to promote transparent, environmentally sensitive grid development to enable the further steady growth of renewable energy and the energy transition.

ENTSO-E and the RGI are committed to exploring joint activities in the fields of best practice exchange and promotion, regulatory and political aspects of grid infrastructure, and its development, the TYNDP process, and the projects of common interest (PCI) selection process. The RGI contributed to ENTSO-E’s annual conference, and other joint projects are ongoing.

Cooperation With ENTSOG

Although gas and electricity are very different commodities, and the energy transition affects the gas and electricity systems in different ways, both are network bound, and it is not by chance that 2009 saw the creation of both ENTSOG and ENTSO-E. Both organisations share similar challenges on their mandates, roles, and institutional issues. Moreover, one should not forget that one-sixth of the electricity in Europe is generated from gas (the figure is much higher in some member states) and that innovative technologies, such as power to gas, even suggest a ‘network of networks’ type of interaction in the future, at least as one scenario. ENTSO-E and ENTSOG are working closely together. They cooperate on joint work on outlook reports, adequacy assessments, and TYNDPs and on interlinked electricity and gas market and network models. These insights were particularly relevant when the European Commission released proposals on the security of the gas supply in early 2016. Moreover, representatives from both ENTSOs meet regularly across different business areas to exchange best practices, for instance, on network code development and implementation.