The Transmission System Operator: New Actors In Electricity Internal Market

Speaker: Mr André Merlin, Chairman of RTE and President of ETSO (European Transmission System Operator)

Contributors: 
• Dr Peter Michael Mombaur, Member of the European Parliament ( PPE/DE), rapporteur on the proposal for a Regulation on conditions access to the network for cross-border exchanges in electricity. 
• Mr Claude Turmes, Member of the European Parliament (Verts/ALE), rapporteur on the Directive’s proposal on Electricity. 
• Mr Dominique Ristori , European Commission, director of Direction A General Affairs, DG TREN

As the propositions from the Commission concerning the complete achievement of the energy market, approved in its principles by the Stockholm summit, will be submitted to the first reading by the European Parliament, it is particularly interesting to study the acquis in this field and, in the electricity sector, the role and place of the electricity transmission system. Directive 96/92/CE laid down a legal framework to the electricity market progressively opening to competition. It imposes a principle of non-discrimination in the access to the transmission system.

RTE is the unique transmission system operator in France. Mr Merlin, its director, will explain how his company, created by the French law on modernisation and development of electricity public service on 10 February 2000 (this law transforms the European directive 96/92 into French law), fulfils the mission of public service that has been given to it : the access of all users -French and others – to the public electricity transmission system of high voltage and very high voltage. Mr Merlin is also president of ETSO (European Transmission System Operator, association of 32 Electricity transport network in 17 countries). He will explain how ETSO contributes to the development of the electricity market in Europe.

RTE, the Single Manager of the French Transport System, was created by the Act of 10 February 2000 governing the modernisation and development of the electricity public service (transposition of the European directive 92/96/EC into French law). RTE is made up of a national control centre and seven regional dispatching units. It has a turnover of 3810 M euro, a team of 8000 employees and is independent of the EDF in management and accounting terms.

Although some say that there is is no single electricity market, but rather fifteen national markets, it is taking shape gradually : the management of border bottle-necks (an initiative for greater fluidity and transparency),the introduction of electricity exchanges in Germany and France (end of November 2001) and of a transitional mechanism for offsetting exchanges of electricity are proof of this.
Producers are seeking to sell where the markets are the most remunerative and that is causing bottle-necks at the borders. In order to remedy this situation and bring prices closer together, interconnection will have to be developed in the congested areas.