Regulation and conflicts regarding electricity interconnectors

In this contribution the authors provide an overview of regulatory issues and conflicts regarding electricity interconnectors between the Netherlands and its neighbours. The Electricity Act 1998 has assigned management of the Dutch part of the interconnectors to exclusively TenneT, the national transmission system operator in the Netherlands. The authors conclude that the dust of many regulatory problems and conflicts concerning existing interconnectors has settled down. The preliminary proceedings regarding the long Sep priority which are pending with the EU Court of Justice must still produce an answer as to the compatibility of this priority with community law. Regarding construction and management of new interconnectors many regulatory and commercial challenges lie ahead. As regards congestion management on existing interconnectors the authors raise the question whether concentration on increasing physical interconnector capacity is the right approach. Interconnector capacity, even if substantially expanded, will continue to be liable to falling short of demand due to price differences and volatility of prices in the various national markets. Perhaps more effort should be put into attaining conditions for non-transaction based congestion management. The combined UCTE (Union for the Co-ordination of Transmission of Electricity) grid is, technically speaking, a 'copper plate'. If it were only managed as such by the various national transmission system operators through co-ordinated control of production and load, almost all transports on this copper plate could be secured, irrespective of underlying commercial flows