Sweden rejects power grid exemption requests

Telecom Service One Holdings

28/04/2022 07:40

OSLO, April 27 (Reuters) - The Swedish Energy Markets
Inspectorate (Ei) has turned down six requests by the country's
electricity transmissions system operator (TSO) to limit the
capacity it must make available to power traders, it said on
Wednesday.
    European Union rules stipulate that TSOs must make at least
70% of the capacity of power cables running between different
price zones available to traders, as a way to ensure the free
flow of power in the internal electricity market.
    Sweden is divided into four different bidding zones, and TSO
Svenska kraftnaet in October had sought exemptions for eight
domestic and international connections to help it deal with
unwanted flows and grid bottlenecks.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2R71H
    The regulator said it turned down four requests to extend
derogations granted for 2020 and 2021 by another year on
interconnection cables with Denmark, Germany, Poland and
Lithuania, as they had not been applied in 2021 and the flow
situation is expected to improve with every passing year. 
    Two further requests for transmission lines crossing bidding
zones internally in Sweden were rejected because the 70% rule
does not apply to domestic lines, it added.
    Meanwhile, the regulator said it was minded to agree to
Svenska kraftnaet's derogation requests for connections to
western Denmark and Finland to deal with flow issues caused by
reduced nuclear power generation at the Ringhals reactor and new
connections between the Nordics and continental Europe.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2NS3PS
    However, it has referred the two cases to the European Union
Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) for a
decision because both Denmark and Finland oppose an exemption,
Ei said.

 (Reporting by Nora Buli, editing by Terje Solsvik)
 ((Nora.Buli@thomsonreuters.com; (+47) 21 04 05 56; Reuters
Messaging: nora.buli.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))