Security requirement applied to new persons connected to power grid as of 17 March

The Electricity Market Act and Other Acts Amendment Act adopted in Riigikogu on 15 February 2023 and published in Riigi Teataja on 7 March 2023 entered into force on 17 March 2023.

Pursuant to subsection 87¹ (1) of the Electricity Market Act (EMA), the security is applied to all new persons connected to the power grid as of the act’s entry into force. Therefore, all persons who submitted connection applications for production purposes to Elering as of 17 March 2023 are required to provide a security of €38,000 per megavolt-ampere (MVA) to the transmission system operator pursuant to subsection 87¹ (1) of the EMA. Pursuant to subsection 111³ (14) of the EMA, a security is also applied to connection applications filed before the act’s entry into force (17 March 2023) and to connection contracts for production purposes that have been entered into and are being performed after 60 days have passed from the act’s entry into force, i.e. in the case of pending connections, the security must be provided to the transmission network operator by 16 May 2023 (the last day for provision of security).

The security may be a guarantee from a credit institution, financial institution or insurer with an investment grade credit rating under the EMA or a deposit in the bank account of the network operator SWEDBANK EE882200221024551301.

If the customer provides the security as a guarantee (i.e. not as a deposit), it must be valid for at least three (3) years as of the submission of the connection application. If necessary, the customer must renew the guarantee or provide a new guarantee when signing the connection contract. The renewed guarantee must be valid until the start date of production set out in the EMA, which will be fixed by the parties in the connection contract.

As of 17 March 2023, Elering will be able to consider a connection application as accepted after the transfer of the security or the submission of a guarantee, the payment of the connection application fee and the assessment of the data submitted with the connection application as meeting the requirements of Elering’s terms and conditions for connection to the electricity transmission grid.

The deposit will be returned to the customer only if the customer has started generating electricity with the generating equipment covered by the connection application or if the connection application was not accepted. If the customer fails to provide the security by the due date, the connection procedure will be terminated.