Cross-border electricity trade

The purpose of the European Union’s electricity market regulation is to work out a common market model that would encourage competition and increase transparency necessary for making future investment decisions to ensure the system’s continuing supply security. The common market model includes sub-models that function in four different time periods and are regulated by three different network rules.

Pursuant to the network rules, market participants have various options both for trading and for lowering risks at their disposal. If the day ahead market is generally used for trading with physical energy, products offered on the financing services market are mostly intended for lowering the risks of the market participants. It is important to note that network rules do not regulate trade with third countries (like Russia and Belarus).

The transmission system operator Elering is responsible for the allocation of cross-border transmission capacities, and does that in accordance with European Union directives and Estonia’s Electricity Market Act. The principles of allocating cross-border transmission capacities are set forth in the EU regulation No 714/2009, and in 2015/1222 (CACM) network rules.

When allocating transmission capacities, the transmission system operator must ensure the security of supply of the system. In accordance with Estonia’s network rules, the transmission system operator allows the import and export of electricity to/from other systems, as well as transit over the main transmission system operator’s grid to the extent and under the conditions that do not directly damage the national power grid, do not impose additional restrictions on domestic electricity consumption, and do not have adverse impact on the security of supply and quality of electricity available to the national power grid’s consumers.

Because electricity grids have generally connections to electricity grids in other countries, corresponding transmission system operators have to cooperate at both regional and European level already at the time of making long-term plans to achieve the best results. Estonia’s electricity grid has connections to the electricity grids of Finland, Russia, and Latvia. Due to these interconnections and the allocation principles for capacities applied, market participants in these countries have the opportunity to trade in Estonia, and market participants in Estonia have the opportunity to trade in the electricity systems of neighbouring countries.

Calculations of cross-border capacities are made on the basis of the grid’s physical and electrical properties. Coordinated Net Transmission Capacity (CNTC) and flow-based methods are used in Europe. In the case of the CNTC method, maximum available transmission capacity between adjacent bidding areas is determined beforehand. In the case of the flow-based method, each network element’s data in the form of a matrix are taken into consideration. Energy transmission between bidding areas are going to be limited by critical network elements and electricity transmission allocation factors (i.e., which lines are used for electricity flow allocation). The Baltic countries and Nordic countries use the CNTC method, which is described in more detail in the next chapter – Transmission Capacity Allocation in Estonia.

The methodologies enable the transmission system operators to fulfil the Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1222 establishing a guideline on capacity allocation and congestion management and Regulation (EU) 2016/1719 establishing a guidline on forward capacity allocation.

Attachments

Estonia-Finland

The electricity networks of Estonia and Finland are connected by HVDC submarine cables EstLink 1 and EstLink 2. In November 2013, Elering and Fingrid signed the Agreement on the Operation and Maintenance of the Interconnections between Finland and Estonia. The agreement defines the principles of calculation and distribution of transmission capacity between two countries, and the corresponding procedures. Pursuant to the agreement, transmission system operators (TSO-s) act on the following principles:

  • Total Transfer Capacity (TTC; see technical constraints) between two specific subsystems is jointly determined by the TSOs on both sides of the interconnection. When determining the capacity of the interconnection between two subsystems, the capacity is calculated by the TSOs on both sides of the connection by using computer programs and the coordinated networks model. If the calculated values do not match, the lowest of them is used to ensure the stability of the systems. The objective is to have the maximum available transmission capacity on the market, taking into consideration network losses and outages. Transmission capacity will be calculated separately for each network mode.
  • Estlink 1 has a nominal capacity of 350 MW in both directions. An additional 15 MW temperature-dependent overload capacity can be used in winter. EstLink 2 has a nominal capacity of 650 MW. Purchase of connection losses at the ends of cables puts additional 16 MW capacity on the market. The Net Transfer Capacity (NTC) of Estlink 1 and Estlink 2 is determined by considering network configurations and limitations in effect in Estonia and in Finland. If due to the grid configuration and limitations there is no need for Transmission Reliability Margin (TRM), the Total Transfer Capacity (TTC) value is used as the Net Transfer Capacity (NTC) value for both directions.
  • The interconnections are subject to a ramping restriction of 600 MW. The restrictions imply that change in power flow from one hour to the next cannot be more than 600 MW. The technical restriction is not inherent to Estlink 1 & 2, it is necessary to ensure the reliable functioning of the synchronous zone electricity systems of the Nordic countries.
  • TSO-s guarantee that all NTC between the bidding areas is given to Nord Pool for the Elspot day-ahead trading. Any transmission capacity left unused after Elspot day-ahead trading will be offered to the Elbas intra-day market. Elbas capacity can be influenced by changes in forecasts and maintenance plans, and by power outages. This can either increase or lower the Elbas capacity. The renewal of capacity values will happen automatically if cross-border trade between the parties on the Elbas market has been made. Market splitting separates the Elbas market areas dynamically in the case of congestion. Changes in Elbas-capacity will be done without sending out an Urgent Market Message (UMM), the exception being when the capacity value is set to zero due to disturbance.

 

Estonia-Latvia

On 11 November 2015, the Baltic electricity network operators AS ‘Augstsprieguma tīkls’, AS Elering, and AB Litgrid reached an agreement on the rules of cross-border capacity calculation and allocation within the Baltic States and on the borders with third states (‘Terms, Conditions and Methodologies on Cross-Zonal Capacity Calculation, Provision and Allocation within the Baltic States and with the 3rd Countries’), the agreement took effect on 1 January 2016. Pursuant to the rules, when determining the transmission capacity value between two networks, it is calculated by both TSOs by using computer programs and the CNTC method. If the calculated values do not match, the lowest of them is used to ensure the stability of the networks. TSO-s guarantee that all NTC between the bidding areas will be given to Nord Pool for day-ahead trading. Any available transmission capacity left unused after day-ahead trading will be offered to the intra-day market.

Trade with Russia

According to the capacity calculation methodology agreed between Estonian and Latvian TSOs, starting from 05.11.2021 all available capacity for day-ahead trade is given to Latvia-Russia border. No intraday trade is taking place on that border.

 

Commission Regulation 1719/2016 (FCA) specifies instruments for long term transmission capacity allocation, with the purpose of providing the ability to hedge against interregional price risks that are caused by a deficit of transmission capacity. Network operator is obliged to offer the instruments if national regulatory bodies (Estonian Competition Authority in Estonia) have deemed it necessary.

Estonian Competition Authority in cooperation with Finnish and Latvian NRAs have issued a decision on 17th of May 2017 on cross- zonal risk hedging opportunities on Estonian cross- borders as follows:

  1. Elering is not requested to issue long- term transmission rights or to make other cross- zonal hedging products on the FI- EE bidding zone border.
  2. Elering is not requested in addition to already available PTR- L product on LV- EE bidding zone border direction to Latvia to issue long-term transmission rights or to make other cross-zonal hedging products available on the LV- EE bidding zone border direction to Estonia.

Interregional price risks are part of general electricity price volatility risks, and their main cause is the lack of transmission capacity between different bidding regions, which in other words means that electricity has different price in different regions. Estonian and Latvian network operators Elering and AS ‘Augstsprieguma tīkls’ offer yearly, quarterly, and monthly FTRs to the transmission capacity between Estonia and Latvia in direction from Estonia to Latvia. Harmonised allocation rules (HAR) for PTR´s and FTR´s can be found here.  The auction calendar to Estonia-Latvi border for year 2019 and 2020 can be found below in attachment.

FTR auctions are organised by Singel Allocation Platform (SAP) operated by JAO. Additional information about the conditions, timeline, and results of FTR auctions is available at the JAO website at www.jao.eu.

Network operators do not offer long term cross-border transmission risk hedging instruments for Estonia-Finland and Estonia-Russia bidding zone borders.

 
Attachments

PTR-Limited Auctions 2017-2018

Pursuant to the agreement between Elering AS and AS ‘Augstsprieguma tīkls’, AS ‘Augstsprieguma tīkls’ started organising the auctions starting from 30 November 2016.

Additional information about the conditions, timeline, and results of PTR-limited auctions on a yearly basis is available via the drop-down side menu and at the AS ‘Augstsprieguma tīkls’ website.

PTR-Limited Auctions 2016

Estonian network operator Elering and Latvian network operator Augstsprieguma tīkls (AST) have reached an agreement on the replacement of hitherto used PTR-Limited rules with harmonised Europe-wide cross-border capacity allocation rules (EU HAR); the agreement established Regional Annex for Estonia-Latvia cross-border rules. Both documents have been approved by Estonian and Latvian regulators.

Further information about the rules and templates can be found here:

The PTR-Limited auction results for 2016:

PTR-Limited Auctions 2015

Timeline, capacities, and results of the auctions will be provided on Elering’s website; the principles governing the setup of auctions are provided in the document PTR-Limited Auction Rulebook_2015.

Auction calendar

The list of participants of PTR-limited auctions

The results for PTR-limited auctions 2015

There was no reduction in market tradeable transmission capacity for the Estonia-Latvia interconnector, 100% of it was given to Nord Pool for allocation.

PTR-Limited Auctions 2014

Timeline, capacities, and results of the auctions will be provided on Elering’s website; the principles governing the setup of auctions are provided in the document PTR-Limited Auction Rulebook_2014. 

Auction calendar

The list of participants of PTR-limited auctions

The results for PTR-limited auctions 2014

There was no reduction in market tradeable transmission capacity for the Estonia–Latvia interconnector, 100% of it was given to Nord Pool for allocation.

Explicit Auctions in 2010–2013

The results of 2010–2013 explicit auctions

European transmission network operators have entered into the Interim ITC Clearing and Settlement Agreement, which allows the market participants of the parties to the Agreement to trade with one another without cross-border fees.

A party to the ITC is a country whose transmission network operator has joined the ITC Agreement. A perimeter country is a country sharing a border with the Republic of Estonia whose transmission network operator has not joined the ITC Agreement. The Russian Federation is a perimeter country for Estonia.

The perimeter fee is a fee payable on supplies with the market participants of perimeter countries pursuant to the ITC Agreement.

In 2020, the perimeter fee is 0.7 EUR/MWh.

Perimeter fees are paid by balance providers.

The transmission system operator Elering is responsible for the allocation of cross-border transmission capacities, and does that in accordance with European Union directives and Estonia’s Electricity Market Act. The principles of allocating cross-border transmission capacities are set forth in the EU regulation No 714/2009, and in 2015/1222 (CACM) network rules.

When allocating transmission capacities, the transmission system operator must ensure the security of supply of the system. In accordance with Estonia’s network rules, the transmission system operator allows the import and export of electricity to/from other systems, as well as transit over the main transmission system operator’s grid to the extent and under the conditions that do not directly damage the national power grid, do not impose additional restrictions on domestic electricity consumption, and do not have adverse impact on the security of supply and quality of electricity available to the national power grid’s consumers.

Because electricity grids have generally connections to electricity grids in other countries, corresponding transmission system operators have to cooperate at both regional and European level already at the time of making long-term plans to achieve the best results. Estonia’s electricity grid has connections to the electricity grids of Finland, Russia, and Latvia. Due to these interconnections and the allocation principles for capacities applied, market participants in these countries have the opportunity to trade in Estonia, and market participants in Estonia have the opportunity to trade in the electricity systems of neighbouring countries.

Calculations of cross-border capacities are made on the basis of the grid’s physical and electrical properties. Coordinated Net Transmission Capacity (CNTC) and flow-based methods are used in Europe. In the case of the CNTC method, maximum available transmission capacity between adjacent bidding areas is determined beforehand. In the case of the flow-based method, each network element’s data in the form of a matrix are taken into consideration. Energy transmission between bidding areas are going to be limited by critical network elements and electricity transmission allocation factors (i.e., which lines are used for electricity flow allocation). The Baltic countries and Nordic countries use the CNTC method, which is described in more detail in the next chapter – Transmission Capacity Allocation in Estonia.

The methodologies enable the transmission system operators to fulfil the Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1222 establishing a guideline on capacity allocation and congestion management and Regulation (EU) 2016/1719 establishing a guidline on forward capacity allocation.

Attachments

Estonia-Finland

The electricity networks of Estonia and Finland are connected by HVDC submarine cables EstLink 1 and EstLink 2. In November 2013, Elering and Fingrid signed the Agreement on the Operation and Maintenance of the Interconnections between Finland and Estonia. The agreement defines the principles of calculation and distribution of transmission capacity between two countries, and the corresponding procedures. Pursuant to the agreement, transmission system operators (TSO-s) act on the following principles:

  • Total Transfer Capacity (TTC; see technical constraints) between two specific subsystems is jointly determined by the TSOs on both sides of the interconnection. When determining the capacity of the interconnection between two subsystems, the capacity is calculated by the TSOs on both sides of the connection by using computer programs and the coordinated networks model. If the calculated values do not match, the lowest of them is used to ensure the stability of the systems. The objective is to have the maximum available transmission capacity on the market, taking into consideration network losses and outages. Transmission capacity will be calculated separately for each network mode.
  • Estlink 1 has a nominal capacity of 350 MW in both directions. An additional 15 MW temperature-dependent overload capacity can be used in winter. EstLink 2 has a nominal capacity of 650 MW. Purchase of connection losses at the ends of cables puts additional 16 MW capacity on the market. The Net Transfer Capacity (NTC) of Estlink 1 and Estlink 2 is determined by considering network configurations and limitations in effect in Estonia and in Finland. If due to the grid configuration and limitations there is no need for Transmission Reliability Margin (TRM), the Total Transfer Capacity (TTC) value is used as the Net Transfer Capacity (NTC) value for both directions.
  • The interconnections are subject to a ramping restriction of 600 MW. The restrictions imply that change in power flow from one hour to the next cannot be more than 600 MW. The technical restriction is not inherent to Estlink 1 & 2, it is necessary to ensure the reliable functioning of the synchronous zone electricity systems of the Nordic countries.
  • TSO-s guarantee that all NTC between the bidding areas is given to Nord Pool for the Elspot day-ahead trading. Any transmission capacity left unused after Elspot day-ahead trading will be offered to the Elbas intra-day market. Elbas capacity can be influenced by changes in forecasts and maintenance plans, and by power outages. This can either increase or lower the Elbas capacity. The renewal of capacity values will happen automatically if cross-border trade between the parties on the Elbas market has been made. Market splitting separates the Elbas market areas dynamically in the case of congestion. Changes in Elbas-capacity will be done without sending out an Urgent Market Message (UMM), the exception being when the capacity value is set to zero due to disturbance.

 

Estonia-Latvia

On 11 November 2015, the Baltic electricity network operators AS ‘Augstsprieguma tīkls’, AS Elering, and AB Litgrid reached an agreement on the rules of cross-border capacity calculation and allocation within the Baltic States and on the borders with third states (‘Terms, Conditions and Methodologies on Cross-Zonal Capacity Calculation, Provision and Allocation within the Baltic States and with the 3rd Countries’), the agreement took effect on 1 January 2016. Pursuant to the rules, when determining the transmission capacity value between two networks, it is calculated by both TSOs by using computer programs and the CNTC method. If the calculated values do not match, the lowest of them is used to ensure the stability of the networks. TSO-s guarantee that all NTC between the bidding areas will be given to Nord Pool for day-ahead trading. Any available transmission capacity left unused after day-ahead trading will be offered to the intra-day market.

Trade with Russia

According to the capacity calculation methodology agreed between Estonian and Latvian TSOs, starting from 05.11.2021 all available capacity for day-ahead trade is given to Latvia-Russia border. No intraday trade is taking place on that border.

 

Commission Regulation 1719/2016 (FCA) specifies instruments for long term transmission capacity allocation, with the purpose of providing the ability to hedge against interregional price risks that are caused by a deficit of transmission capacity. Network operator is obliged to offer the instruments if national regulatory bodies (Estonian Competition Authority in Estonia) have deemed it necessary.

Estonian Competition Authority in cooperation with Finnish and Latvian NRAs have issued a decision on 17th of May 2017 on cross- zonal risk hedging opportunities on Estonian cross- borders as follows:

  1. Elering is not requested to issue long- term transmission rights or to make other cross- zonal hedging products on the FI- EE bidding zone border.
  2. Elering is not requested in addition to already available PTR- L product on LV- EE bidding zone border direction to Latvia to issue long-term transmission rights or to make other cross-zonal hedging products available on the LV- EE bidding zone border direction to Estonia.

Interregional price risks are part of general electricity price volatility risks, and their main cause is the lack of transmission capacity between different bidding regions, which in other words means that electricity has different price in different regions. Estonian and Latvian network operators Elering and AS ‘Augstsprieguma tīkls’ offer yearly, quarterly, and monthly FTRs to the transmission capacity between Estonia and Latvia in direction from Estonia to Latvia. Harmonised allocation rules (HAR) for PTR´s and FTR´s can be found here.  The auction calendar to Estonia-Latvi border for year 2019 and 2020 can be found below in attachment.

FTR auctions are organised by Singel Allocation Platform (SAP) operated by JAO. Additional information about the conditions, timeline, and results of FTR auctions is available at the JAO website at www.jao.eu.

Network operators do not offer long term cross-border transmission risk hedging instruments for Estonia-Finland and Estonia-Russia bidding zone borders.

 
Attachments

PTR-Limited Auctions 2017-2018

Pursuant to the agreement between Elering AS and AS ‘Augstsprieguma tīkls’, AS ‘Augstsprieguma tīkls’ started organising the auctions starting from 30 November 2016.

Additional information about the conditions, timeline, and results of PTR-limited auctions on a yearly basis is available via the drop-down side menu and at the AS ‘Augstsprieguma tīkls’ website.

PTR-Limited Auctions 2016

Estonian network operator Elering and Latvian network operator Augstsprieguma tīkls (AST) have reached an agreement on the replacement of hitherto used PTR-Limited rules with harmonised Europe-wide cross-border capacity allocation rules (EU HAR); the agreement established Regional Annex for Estonia-Latvia cross-border rules. Both documents have been approved by Estonian and Latvian regulators.

Further information about the rules and templates can be found here:

The PTR-Limited auction results for 2016:

PTR-Limited Auctions 2015

Timeline, capacities, and results of the auctions will be provided on Elering’s website; the principles governing the setup of auctions are provided in the document PTR-Limited Auction Rulebook_2015.

Auction calendar

The list of participants of PTR-limited auctions

The results for PTR-limited auctions 2015

There was no reduction in market tradeable transmission capacity for the Estonia-Latvia interconnector, 100% of it was given to Nord Pool for allocation.

PTR-Limited Auctions 2014

Timeline, capacities, and results of the auctions will be provided on Elering’s website; the principles governing the setup of auctions are provided in the document PTR-Limited Auction Rulebook_2014. 

Auction calendar

The list of participants of PTR-limited auctions

The results for PTR-limited auctions 2014

There was no reduction in market tradeable transmission capacity for the Estonia–Latvia interconnector, 100% of it was given to Nord Pool for allocation.

Explicit Auctions in 2010–2013

The results of 2010–2013 explicit auctions

European transmission network operators have entered into the Interim ITC Clearing and Settlement Agreement, which allows the market participants of the parties to the Agreement to trade with one another without cross-border fees.

A party to the ITC is a country whose transmission network operator has joined the ITC Agreement. A perimeter country is a country sharing a border with the Republic of Estonia whose transmission network operator has not joined the ITC Agreement. The Russian Federation is a perimeter country for Estonia.

The perimeter fee is a fee payable on supplies with the market participants of perimeter countries pursuant to the ITC Agreement.

In 2020, the perimeter fee is 0.7 EUR/MWh.

Perimeter fees are paid by balance providers.

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