ACER Opinion 03-2025 on the first amendment of ENTSO-E's monitoring plan

PUBLIC

OPINION No 03/2025 OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AGENCY FOR THE COOPERATION OF ENERGY REGULATORS of 16 April 2025 on the first amendment of the ENTSO-E Monitoring Plan in accordance with Article 63(2) of Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2195 of 23 November 2017 establishing a Guideline on Electricity Balancing

THE EUROPEAN UNION AGENCY FOR THE COOPERATION OF ENERGY REGULATORS,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2019/942 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 establishing a European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators , and, in particular, Article 4(2) thereof,

Having regard to Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2195 of 23 November 2017 establishing a guideline on electricity balancing (‘EB Regulation’) and, in particular, Article 63(2) thereof,

Whereas:

1. INTRODUCTION

(1) In accordance with Article 63(1) of the EB Regulation, ENTSO-E shall monitor the implementation of the EB Regulation. This monitoring shall cover at least the preparation of the European report in accordance with Article 59 of the EB Regulation and the preparation of a report on monitoring of the implementation of the EB Regulation including the effect on the harmonisation of applicable rules aimed at facilitating market integration .

(2) In accordance with Article 63(2) of the EB Regulation, ENTSO-E shall submit a monitoring plan on the reports to be prepared and any updates to ACER for an opinion

by six months after entry into force of the EB Regulation. ENTSO-E submitted the first Monitoring Plan on 6 June 2018. ACER issued its first Opinion 12/2019 on the Balancing Monitoring plan on 20 May 2019. (3) On 10 December 2024, ENTSO-E submitted to ACER for an opinion the First amendment of ENTSO-E Monitoring Plan in accordance with Article 63(2) of the EB Regulation (‘Amendment’). Article 63(2) does not specify a clear timeline for ACER to issue this opinion.

2. SUMMARY OF THE AMENDMENT

(4) The Amendment consists of the following main chapters: a. Introduction; b. General overview of the reporting obligations pursuant to the EB Regulation; c. Reporting obligations from the Terms, Conditions and Methodologies (‘TCMs’) stemming from the EB Regulation; and two Annexes: d. Annex 1 – Detailed description of the EB Regulation- related reporting. e. Annex 2 – Scope: List of Countries.

3. ACER’S ASSESSMENT OF THE AMENDMENT

General comments on the Amendment

(5) Chapter 2 of the Amendment lists the reporting obligations pursuant to the EB Regulation, including the first submission date and the frequency of future submissions. Annex I of the Amendment provides a detailed description of what these reports need to contain in accordance with the EB Regulation. (6) Since the submission of the initial Monitoring Plan by ENTSO-E, several decisions on Methodologies in accordance with the EB Regulation have been taken, which required TSOs to further develop analyses on certain aspects of the balancing markets and submit additional reports to ACER. Methodologies containing such provisions are listed in Chapter 3 of the Amendment, and these are the following: • Implementation Framework for a European platform for the imbalance netting process (IN IF );

• Implementation framework for the European platform for the exchange of balancing energy from frequency restoration reserves with automatic activation (aFRR IF );

• Implementation framework for the European platform for the exchange of balancing energy from frequency restoration reserves with manual activation (mFRR IF );

• Implementation framework for the European platform for the exchange of balancing energy from replacement reserves (RR IF);

• Pricing Methodology

• Harmonised Cross-zonal capacity allocation Methodology

• Imbalance Settlement Harmonisation Methodology

(7) ACER considers that all the required reports from the EB Regulation and the Methodologies stemming from the EB Regulation, timings and their frequency of publication have been correctly listed in the Amendment. However, the description of the scope of some of the reports could be improved. For example, the European report on the integration of balancing markets in accordance with Article 59 of the EB Regulation needs to contain all the elements listed down in Article 59(3) of the EB Regulation, and not only those listed in the Amendment.

Comments related to the reports pursuant to the EB Regulation Methodologies

(8) ACER acknowledges that the deadline for submitting certain reports is approaching. These deadlines were introduced based on the assumption that all or most of the TSOs would be connected to the European platforms for the exchange of balancing energy within 24 months after the legal deadline, which was July 2022 or at the latest before the 2-year maximum derogation deadline which was in July 2024. Given that the derogation deadline has passed, and only a number of TSOs are currently connected to the Platforms, ACER agrees that TSOs may take additional time to issue some of the reports.

(9) ACER’s proposal to adjust the timings of certain reports and incorporate them into the European Report in accordance with Article 59 of the EB Regulation is summarized in Table 1 below.

(10) ACER encourages ENTSO-E, should any additional synergies be identified, to propose simplifications to ACER to streamline and reduce reporting obligations without the need to submit another amendment to the Monitoring Plan. In this regard, ACER welcomes the collaboration between ENTSO-E and ACER to simplify the reporting process once the Methodologies containing reporting requirements are submitted for amendments.

(11) Given that ACER proposed that the submission of certain reports is postponed until the majority or all TSOs are connected to the European platforms and sufficient operational data is available to conduct the required analyses, ACER urges ENTSO- E to shift its focus in the meantime from the monitoring activities toward improving the quality of the balancing data required to be published in accordance with Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 543/2013 on submission and publication of data in electricity markets and amending Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 714/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council the Transparency regulation (‘Transparency Regulation), Article 12 of the EB Regulation and Articles stemming from the EB Regulation Methodologies. This would enable all relevant stakeholders, including NRAs and ACER, to conduct their own analyses and monitoring more effectively.

Alignment of reporting periods of all reporting obligations

(12) In its Chapter 3, ENTSO-E proposes to further align the covered period of all reporting obligations to correspond to a calendar year from 1 January to 31 December.

(13) ACER welcomes this proposal, as aligning all reporting obligations to a calendar year enhances simplicity and clarity by ensuring consistency across reporting periods and making the comparison and analysis of data easier.

4. CONCLUSION

(14) ACER considers that the updated Monitoring Plan fulfils the requirements from the EB Regulation, since it provides a list of the reports that need to be published by ENTSO-E stemming from the EB Regulation, as well as from the respective Methodologies pursuant to the EB Regulation, and contains timelines, frequency and description of the reporting content. ACER notes that certain elements of the updated Monitoring plan such as the description of the content of some of the reports could be further improved.

(15) ACER acknowledges that the high number of required reports may place significant burden on ENTSO-E’s resources and potentially divert attention from other priority tasks. Therefore ACER,

HAS ADOPTED THIS OPINION:

1. Considering the significant delays in some TSOs' accessions to the EB Platforms, ACER acknowledges the need for additional time to produce certain reports. Therefore, ACER recommends that ENTSO-E adopts alternative timelines for their publication. ACER expects that these alternative timelines are formally proposed to ACER once the respective Methodologies are submitted for amendments.

2. ACER recommends that ENTSO-E, in the meantime, prioritise improving the quality of balancing data published on the ENTSO-E Transparency Platform to ensure that stakeholders, NRAs, and ACER can effectively conduct their respective monitoring and analyses. ACER expects ENTSO-E to commence this work without delay.

3. ACER recommends that ENTSO-E promptly notifies ACER upon identifying synergies between reporting obligations, without the need to resubmit the amended Monitoring Plan. This will facilitate more timely discussions and the implementation of the most effective solutions.

4. ACER recommends that ENTSO-E and ACER collaborate to progressively reduce the number of reports that need to be published.

This Opinion is addressed to ENTSO-E.

Done at Ljubljana, on 16 April 2025.

- SIGNED -

Fоr the Agency The Director

C. ZINGLERSEN