TRADING ELECTRICITY FROM 1 JANUARY 2021 GUIDANCE
The UK Government have published brief guidance that informs people working in the UK electricity market and other stakeholders about changes to the cross-border trading and supply of electricity from 1 January 2021.
Summary of actions
Interconnectors, code administrators and market participants may need to carry out contingency planning for 1 January 2021, depending on the outcome of FTA negotiations. Although it is a matter for individual businesses to work out what steps they need to take, the government anticipates these may include:
- interconnector owners/operators will need to continue to work with their stakeholders and regulators to prepare alternative trading arrangements and updated rules. These alternative trading arrangements will need to be as efficient as possible and provide each connected market with the necessary information to ensure the trades can be carried out
- interconnector owners/operators will need to continue to engage with the relevant EU national regulators to understand their processes for the potential reassessment of their Transmission System Operator certifications. Ofgem, and where appropriate, the Northern Ireland Utility Regulator will seek to support the interconnectors in this process. Government will retain existing Transmission System Operator certifications and will ensure that leaving the EU will not create any new domestic administrative requirements. This will apply for both Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- in Great Britain, the administrators of the various industry codes (the technical rules of the electricity system) will need to work with relevant industry parties to ensure that the codes are updated
- market participants in Great Britain will need to register under the EU’s Regulation on Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT) with an with an EU regulatory authority for the purposes of market monitoring to avoid a disruption to cross-border trade, trade within EU wholesale energy markets, or trade within the Single Electricity Market
- the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol provides the basis for the continued operation of the Single Electricity Market and trade of wholesale electricity across the island of Ireland
- in Northern Ireland, electricity market participants should continue using the Single Electricity Market processes and arrangements from 1 January 2021. However, market participants should be aware there may be alternative trading arrangements between Great Britain and the Single Electricity Market
- market participants should engage with their Regulatory Authority where their preparations identify significant concerns. Market participants should also check the status of contracts, and licences held in EU member states, which may be impacted from 1 January 2021