Direct line producers

Instructions for direct line producers to register as a recipient of renewable energy support and transmit metering data

Definition of direct line

A line that is located in the service area of a network operator and that lacks a direct connection to the network but that may be indirectly connected to the network through an electrical installation of a market participant and that serves to transmit electricity from a power station to another power station or to another market participant for its own consumption, resale or transmission (clause 3 20) of the Electricity Market Act)

Definition of line possessor

A line possessor is an electricity undertaking that conveys electricity via a direct line or a direct current line which crosses the national border (section 9 of the Electricity Market Act)

Elering has established under subsection 59¹ (3) of the Electricity Market Act that a producer who wishes to receive support for electricity generated from a renewable energy source transmitted to a consumer via a direct line must submit an application for registration as a recipient of renewable energy support of a producer using a direct line (the corresponding form is attached at the bottom of the page) to the e-mail address [email protected] with the following attachments:

• written consent from the system operator to establish a direct line to its service area;
• confirmation issued by the system operator regarding the compliance of the production device (Elektrilevi’s network customers have the corresponding confirmation included in the network contract for production devices of up to 500 kW);
• if it is a production device that has commenced operations from 2019, a confirmation letter from the producer stating that the device has not received investment aid;
• if it is a production device with a net capacity of over 1 MW, an authorisation for the generation of electricity issued by the Competition Authority is required;
• if it is a production device with a net capacity of over 1 MW, an authorisation issued to the undertaking by the Competition Authority for the transmission of electricity via a direct line is also required;
• network contract(s) of the electrical installation of the producer or consumer, under which the production device is indirectly (or directly) connected to the electricity network;
• electrical installation diagram with an explanatory note explaining how electricity is transmitted to the end consumer (or to the network) and how electricity metering is organised;
• if the producer is not the owner of the network contract, the consent of the owner of the network contract to enable generation (the consent form is attached below) must be submitted;
• an image of the direct line metering device showing the CE marking, meter number and metrological control marking.

Activities required to transmit metering data that serves as the basis for receiving support and paying the renewable energy charge to the Data Warehouse:

1. Enter into a contract for the use of data warehouse as a line possessor
2. Fill in the Contract form with the necessary data and send it unsigned to Elering: [email protected]
3. Register direct line metering points in the data warehouse:
4. Upload direct line metering point information to Datahub:
   1. by filling in the form that opens on the “Metering points” page under the button “New”; or
   2. by using the form available for download on the “Mass uploading of metering points” page.
      Instructions: https://github.com/Elering/estfeed-datahub-docs/blob/main/est/05-mootepunktid.md#veebiliides
5. 3. Ensure proper transmission of metering data to the data warehouse, instructions: https://github.com/Elering/estfeed-datahub-docs/blob/main/est/12-mooteandmed.md

The obligation of the line possessor (i.e. a producer who uses a direct line to transmit electricity) to pay the renewable energy charge:

1. The producer has the right to receive renewable energy support for electricity transmitted to the consumer via a direct line, and the line possessor (i.e. a producer who uses the direct line to transmit electricity) has the obligation to pay renewable energy charge for electricity transmitted to the consumer via a direct line.
2. The line possessor is obligated to pay the renewable energy charge according to the quantity of electricity transmitted to the consumer via a direct line.
3. The information on which the invoice for renewable energy charge submitted by Elering is based must be sent by the line possessor in free form to the e-mail address [email protected] no later than by the 5th date of each month (working day).
4. Elering submits an invoice to the line possessor based on the data received (or, in the absence of timely data, based on a forecast). The submitted data is corrected and the forecast is adjusted with the actual data together with the data and invoice for the following month.

Start of calculation of support for electricity transmitted via direct lines

The support for electricity transmitted to the consumer via a direct line is calculated from the date on which the Competition Authority issued an authorisation for a direct line of a production device with a capacity of over 1 MW and once the producer has submitted all the necessary documents for applying for support for electricity transmitted to the consumer via a direct line together with the application of the producer using the direct line to the e-mail address [email protected] and Elering has sent a confirmation of the registration of the direct line in the green.elering.ee information system to the producer’s e-mail address. Until then, renewable energy support is only calculated for electricity transmitted to the network.

Calculation principles when using a direct line

Pursuant to subsection 58 (2) of the Electricity Market Act, the amount of electricity in respect of which support is determined using remote reading devices and is deemed to include the total balance of electricity supplied to the network as well as the amount of electricity conveyed to consumers via a direct line. If the direct line metering device and the network metering device are placed in a series, the amount of electricity measured by the direct line metering device less the electricity conveyed to the network during the same hour is deemed to be consumption.

Requirements for direct line meters

The meters used for metering must comply with the requirements of the Measuring Instruments Directive 2014/32/EU in accordance with Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Regulation No. 29 “Essential and specific requirements for measuring instruments falling within the scope of the Measuring Instruments Directive, the procedure for attestation and verification of conformity, and requirements for marking measuring instruments” of 29 March 2016. Also, the requirements of Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology Regulation No. 42 “Requirements for the metrological characteristics of measuring instruments and measurement procedures used for measuring excise goods” of 23 May 2022 and have a valid verification in accordance with Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Regulation No. 65 “Mandatory areas of application of measuring instruments that have undergone metrological control, including their exceptions, the list of measuring instruments that are subject to mandatory metrological control, the accuracy requirements, the verification validity periods of measuring instruments, and the specified requirements for metrological control and statistical verification” of 18 December 2018.

The line possessor is responsible for the compliance of the meters.

Excerpt from the legislation governing electricity metering and data transmission:

• Pursuant to subsection 58 (2) of the Electricity Market Act, the amount of electricity with regard to which a guarantee of origin mentioned in section 58¹ of the Electricity Market Act is issued, as well as the quantity of electricity in respect of which the support mentioned in sections 59, 59⁴, 59⁵ or 59^{6 i}s paid in part or in full, is determined using remote reading devices and is deemed to include the total balance of electricity supplied to the networks of network operators holding the corresponding authorisation through all connection points of the producer’s power station during the trading period, as well as the amount of electricity conveyed to consumers via a direct line that conforms to the requirements of this Act. In the case specified in section 108¹ of the Electricity Market Act, the quantity of electricity on which support is paid or for which a guarantee of origin is issued is determined, by means of a separate dedicated remote reading device, separately for each stage of the generating installation.
• According to section 3 of the Network Code on the Operation of the Electricity Market, data exchange between market participants takes place through a data exchange platform (hereinafter “DEP”).
• Based on section 7 of the Network Code on the Operation of the Electricity Market, the network operator, line possessor or operator of a closed distribution network relays to the DEP, for each of their metering points, the following information:
• the technical particulars of the metering point as listed in section 5 of the Network Code on the Operation of the Electricity Market;
• the Commercial Registry code or, in the case of a natural person, the personal identification code, of the market participant who concluded the network contract or, in the case a line possessor or operator of a closed distribution network, the contract for network use;
• in the case of a first-time submission of data, the EIC code of the open supplier;
• technical data;
• any modifications to the data previously relayed;
• bi-directional hourly-basis metering data.
• Pursuant to subsection 6 (3) of the Network Code on the Operation of the Electricity Market, the network operator, line possessor, aggregator, operator of a closed distribution network, operator of a charging point and producer shall submit preliminary metering data for each of their metering points to the DEP for the previous day by 10:00 a.m. each day. The verified metering data for the previous calendar month is submitted by the fifth date of each calendar month.

The line possessor is responsible for ensuring that the metering data transmitted through the direct line metering point is in sync with the metering data transmitted through the network metering point.