Public Consultation on a proposal for modification of the Terms and Conditions for the Outage Planning Agent (T&C OPA), in the framework of the Release 1 of the phase 2 of iCAROS project

Context

In the framework of the iCAROS (integrated Coordination of Assets for Redispatching and Operational Security) project, Elia intends to develop efficient and modern processes for the coordination of system relevant assets of grid users and for congestion management in a fast evolving electricity market in order to ensure grid security and compliancy with the applicable legislation (in particular with the requirements from the European regulation System Operation Guidelines – SOGL and of the national and regional regulations). These processes are necessary for a safe management of the grid by contributing to the mitigation of congestions on the grid, the follow-up of the availability of ancillary services (including the monitoring of incompressibility issues), the monitoring of the availability of power production means to satisfy the demand and the safeguarding of the operational security. In particular, the evolutions foreseen in the iCAROS project concern the following processes:

1. The Availability planning process ensured by the Outage Planning Agent (OPA) pursuant to articles 82 to 103 of the SOGL and 125 and 126 of the Code of Conduct. This process corresponds to the provision of availability plans necessary for the efficient coordination of system relevant assets of grid users and the planning of outages of Elia grid assets.
2. The Scheduling process ensured by the Scheduling Agent (SA) pursuant to articles 46 of the SOGL and 128 and 129 of the Code of Conduct. This process concerns the provision of active power schedules from day-ahead necessary for the coordination of system relevant assets of grid users and provides a necessary input for the assessment of congestion risks on the grid.
3. The Redispatching process (costly remedial actions) ensured by the Scheduling Agent (SA) pursuant to articles 130 and 131 of the Code of Conduct. This process concerns the provision and the activation of flexibility (active power upwards and downwards) offered by the SA as a means to solve operational security issues on the grid.
4. The Congestion management process ensured by Elia pursuant to SOGL and CACM requirements.

The evolutions of these processes were first described in three design notes¹  published and consulted in 2017. Following discussions and agreements with market parties, the implementation of the iCAROS design has been split in different phases reflecting the operational prioritization. The first phase of iCAROS was finalized in May 2024 and lead to evolutions ²  of three regulated documents: the Terms and Conditions for the Outage Planning Agent (T&C OPA), the Terms and Conditions for the Scheduling Agent (T&C SA) and the Rules for Coordination and Congestion Management. The second phase of iCAROS will be split in two steps with different releases in order to allow a realistic implementation. At the moment the following releases are proposed:

• Step 1: Evolutions related to the availability planning process for TSO (and CDSO connected to TSO grid) connected technical facilities and DSO connected production and storage facilities and Congestion Risk Indicators (CRI).
• Release 1: Implementation of the full design related to availability planning process for TSO (and CDSO connected to TSO grid) connected production and storage facilities with an installed capacity larger than or equal to 25 MW.
• Release 2: Extension of the CRI to local (< 150 kV up to 36/30 kV) and DSO grid.
• Release 3: Implementation of the full design related to availability planning process for TSO (and CDSO connected to TSO grid) and DSO connected production and storage facilities with an installed capacity larger than or equal to 1 MW, as well as for TSO-connected demand sites. 

• Step 2: Evolutions related to scheduling and redispatching processes for TSO (and CDSO connected to TSO grid) connected production and storage facilities as well as scheduling process for TSO connected demand sites.

The document subject to consultation constitutes an updated version of the T&C OPA that integrates the evolutions foreseen in the Release 1 of the phase 2 of the iCAROS project, namely the implementation of the full design related to availability planning process for TSO (and CDSO connected to TSO grid) connected production and storage facilities with an installed capacity larger than or equal to 25 MW. 

Consultation Period

Elia invites all stakeholders to submit any comments and suggestions they may have on the documents submitted for consultation.

The consultation period runs from 31 January 2025 to 3 March 2025.

After the consultation period, Elia collects all comments and feedback from the market parties. Elia will analyse these comments and integrate them into a consultation report together with Elia’s responses and if needed adapt the T&C OPA. In addition to the consultation report, Elia will publish the reactions of the market parties (including names) on the website, unless it is explicitly stated that the contribution is to be considered confidential. 

¹  For availability planning: 2018 Design Note ICAROS Future Outage Planning

For Congestion Risk Indicator: 2018 Design Note ICAROS Future Congestion Risk Indicator

For scheduling and redispatching: 2018 Design Note ICAROS Future Scheduling & Redispatching

²  Described in the following document on the Elia website: TC OPA SA Coordination Rules 2024 - Explanatory document