NMa: TenneT may expand annual auction capacity and introduce a two-round auction

At the annual auction for transport capacity at the interconnectors Netherlands-Belgium and Netherlands-Germany, 1300 MW will be auctioned instead of the current 900 MW. The extra 400 MW will be deduced from the daily auction. Also, the annual capacity is to be auctioned in two rounds (in September and November) instead of a single round. TenneT, the national manager of the high-voltage grid, has asked for permission to implement these changes. The Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa) will grant this request.

On the basis of a ruling of the European Court of Justice, TenneT auctions an extra 750 MW of transport capacity at daily auctions as from 1 September 2005. Previously, the amount of 750 MW was awarded to four Dutch electricity suppliers, joined in the former SEP, by means of a preference policy. The amount of 750 MW is now allocated to the daily auction, as the regulated capacity limit set out in the Netcode has been reached for both the annual and monthly auctions.

By transferring 400 MW out of the total 750 MW from the daily auction to the annual auction, market parties may lay claim to a larger amount of transport capacity for a longer period in advance. This will render possibilities for future import and export more secure and stimulate the entry of market parties. The remaining capacity will still be available for the monthly and daily auctions.

Granting an exemption proved to be the quickest way of realising the mutations. The exemption allows for the proposed changes to be introduced in the forthcoming annual auction for 2007 in September and November 2006. Recently, the Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal [College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven/ CBb] passed judgment on the preference policy with regard to SEP. With a view to implementing the court ruling, the NMa will issue a new decision on objection and reassess relevant sections of the Netcode in so doing. The exemption awarded to TenneT expires as soon as new regulations on the division of transport capacity in the Netcode are adopted.

The draft decision for the exemption was open to consultation for a period of four weeks. The NMa received four formal reactions, which were taken into account in the final decision. As of today, the decision is available on the DTe website (in Dutch only).