Public consultation on a modification of Elia’s LFC block operation agreement and the methodology to determine the balancing capacity in the Elia LFC block

Context

In accordance with article 119(1) of Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1485 of 2 August 2017 establishing a guideline on electricity transmission system operation (SOGL), the LFC block operational agreement specifies the dimensioning rules for the "Frequency Restoration Reserves" or "FRR" (also referred to as aFRR and mFRR) and the methods for fulfilling the obligations regarding the balancing of the Belgian control area. Elia has developed a proposal for amendment to introduce, as part of its escalation procedure, a bidding obligation during the first mFRR balancing capacity auction in case of tight market conditions. Elia also takes the opportunity to prepare the update of the full activation time of aFRR to 5 minutes and to introduce a fallback procedure in case of technical problems with Elia’s new dynamic aFRR dimensioning methodology.

The LFC Means specifies, in line with Article 213(1) of the Code of conduct for Electricity of 20 October 2022 established by the CREG and in accordance with article 31(1) of the Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2195 of 23 November 2017 establishing a guideline on electricity balancing (EBGL), the methodology to determine for each balancing service the balancing capacity of aFRR and mFRR to be procured. The proposal for amendment introduces a process which temporarily limits the contribution of reserve sharing in covering the upward mFRR reserve capacity needs during periods with tight market conditions in countries with which Elia has concluded a reserve sharing agreement. During such periods, upward mFRR balancing capacity requirements will therefore be increased with 250 MW.

Subject to the approval by CREG, the adjustments will take effect in line with the implementation plan specified in the proposal. It should be noted that only the proposals for amendment on Elia’s LFC block operational agreement (referred to as LFCBOA) and Elia’s methodology to determine the balancing capacity in the Elia LFC block (also referred to as LFC Means) are subject to consultation. The explanatory notes and the documents with track changes compared to the previous versions, are published for information.

Period

This consultation aims to receive any comments from market participants and relevant stakeholders regarding the consulted document and the consultation period is set from Friday August 18 to Friday September 15, 2023.