The spanish electric system operation. The contribution of nuclear generation

Operation of an electric system encloses the collection of activities which extend from affective generation dispatch to issuing instruction for network manoeuvring along with international exchange scheduling. Based on the market mechanisms that apply to energy transactions, these tasks guarantee the security of supply end consumers, which is the final goal of the System Operators actions. In Spain this function is executed by Red Electrica de Espana (REE) since 1985, after being constituted as the first Transmission and System Operator (TSO) in the world. Additionally the variations to Law 54/1997 introduced by law 17/2007 also assign REE the function of sole transmission owner in the Spanish electric system. In order to achieve the aforementioned goal, nuclear energy plays in Spain a fundamental role in electric generation thanks to its high availability rate, the predictability of its fuel recharges, its high operational reliability, its geographical location, the stability of its costs and the security of supply given by the possibility of on-site fuel storage in the power plant. (Author)