SYRIZA-PS MEP and member of the Budget and Environment Committees of the European Parliament, Nikos Farantouris, has submitted a written question to the Commission, raising concerns about the role of national transmission system operators for electricity and their influence on electricity prices in Southeast Europe.
Farantouris: “Does the Commission consider the granting of consecutive derogations to APG justified?”
As noted by the Greek MEP and Professor of Energy Law, “according to Article 16, paragraph 8 of Regulation 2019/943, electricity transmission system operators must ensure minimum levels of available capacity and are not allowed to limit the available volume of interconnection capacity as a means of resolving congestion within their own bidding zone. Exceptionally, derogations may be granted for reasons of maintaining system operational security, while avoiding discrimination between internal and cross-zonal exchanges (paragraph 9 of the same article).”
However, according to Mr. Farantouris, “the Austrian Transmission System Operator (APG) has received six consecutive derogations, essentially remaining outside the above requirements. Therefore, with the continuous granting of derogations, this exceptional possibility becomes an established situation, significantly affecting the volume of capacity provided to other participating states in the energy market. This, in turn, affects price levels, creating large differences in electricity prices in day-ahead markets between Southeast and Central Europe, significantly harming households, businesses and industries in Southeast Europe.”
Based on the above, the Greek MEP asks the Commission whether it considers the granting of consecutive derogations to APG justified, given their consequences on electricity prices in Southeast Europe.
He also asks the Commission to cooperate with ACER to end phenomena of abuse of the derogation possibility and to take measures to address the significantly higher electricity prices in Southeast European countries, such as Greece.
