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The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) publishes today its first monitoring report on security of electricity supply in EU Member States (‘Report’). The Report looks into the implementation of adequacy-related methodologies to identify the necessary level of security of supply and to assess adequacy of the electricity system in the short- and long-term. The Report also examines the measures adopted by Member States to address persisting security of supply concerns.
The report focuses on 2021 and does not cover measures deployed as a response to the current crisis.
What are the Report’s key findings?
- Member States gradually implement the ACER’s harmonised methodology to calculate the value of lost load, the cost of new entry and the reliability standard which defines the necessary level of security of electricity supply. However, non-uniform approaches in implementation need further attention.
- The short-term and seasonal adequacy assessment framework is largely in place. Only two incidents were identified in 2021 and were tackled by Transmission System Operators (TSOs) in a coordinated manner to avoid possible supply interruptions.
- While ENTSO-E’s pan-European resource adequacy assessment is under development, Member States assess security of supply at a national level. Out of the 14 national assessments conducted in 2021, 7 revealed adequacy concerns in at least one of the next ten years.
- Cost of additional capacity mechanisms rises to €5 billion in 2021 (+81% from 2020) and is expected to reach €7 billion in 2023, largely directed to conventional power generation. ACER raises attention on potential lock-in effects stemming from long-term contracts and points to incompatibility of such capacity mechanisms’ outcomes with future climate and energy targets.
