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A new regulatory tariff period to address the challenges facing the electricity market
from Annual report 2015
by Elia Group
C H A L L E N G E S A H E A D A N D FUTURE PROSPECTS
A NEW REGULATORY TARIFF PERIOD TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES FACING THE ELECTRICITY MARKET
In early December 2015, CREG, the Belgian regulator, and Elia officially announced that a final agreement had been reached on Elia’s tariff proposal for the regulatory period 2016-2019. This agreement is an important milestone since it will enable Elia to move forward with an ambitious investment programme for its electricity transmission grid totalling more than €1.6 billion during the period 2016-2019 (excluding the Nemo project) and to address the challenges of managing the electricity system against the backdrop of an energy landscape in the throes of change. The tariffs agreed for the period 2016-2019 factor in a new incentive mechanism adopted by CREG and designed to support delivery of key projects to upgrade and expand the transmission grid. A range of incentives have also been devised to encourage the system operator to provide higher quality services. The average annual budget approved for the period 2016-2019 is 2.5% less than that for 2015 (taking into account inflation). This reduction will ensure that the share represented by transmission costs will remain stable and low in the electricity bill paid by grid users.
€1.6
-2.5%
AVERAGE APPROVED ANNUAL BUDGET FOR 2016-19 COMPARED TO 2015
ELIA’S THREE CORE ACTIVITIES
Asset management
The Elia Group maintains and develops highvoltage equipment and infrastructure: lines, cables, transformers and so on. The Group is using advanced technologies to modernise and extend its grid to enable it to integrate more advanced technologies.
System operation
Managing the electricity system is becoming ever more complex, requiring increasingly sophisticated tools and processes and specialist skills to keep the grid balanced 24 hours a day, all year round. Since power cannot be stored in large quantities, balancing activities must be conducted in real time so as to guarantee a reliable supply and efficient operational management of the high-voltage grid.
Market facilitation
The Elia Group is a core player on the electricity market and as such acts as a market facilitator. To this end, it makes its infrastructure available to the market in a transparent, non-discriminatory way. It devises services and mechanisms to boost market development and forges new connections to open up new possibilities for the market. This encourages more effective competition between market players and enables renewable energy to be incorporated into the energy mix, for the wellbeing of the economy and of the community as a whole.
