New Rules for the Electricity Market and Grid Operation

Europe’s electricity networks are currently operated according to national rules that govern the actions of operators and determine how access is given to users. The European Union is adopting a common set of rules, commonly known as Network Codes, which will enable electricity network operators, generators, suppliers and consumers to operate more effectively in the pan-European electricity market. The harmonisation of national rules will promote the efficient use of cross-border interconnection between countries and will provide a more secure and reliable electricity system with an increased level of renewable generation.

Over the past several years we, together with other members of ENTSO-E, have been working hard to develop the Network Codes. The final rules are proposed by the European Commission and adopted by the European Parliament before becoming binding European law. The focus now is to identify what necessary changes are required in Ireland and Northern Ireland to ensure that our national legislation is compliant to these new rules when they begin to enter into force.

A substantial amount of work has already been achieved to prepare for these new rules, including the new design of the Integrated Single Electricity Market (I-SEM). We continue to work with our regulators, governments and key stakeholders to ensure timely delivery.  

All-Island Forum for European Stakeholders

The All-Island Forum for European Stakeholders provides information on the development and implementation of new European rules for the electricity market and grid operation and on other areas of European electricity policy.

Previous forum information can be found by clicking on the meeting date below.

For further information, please contact info@soni.ltd.uk

Publications

As required by the European Network Codes and Guidelines, a number of additional documents are to be published either by ENTSO-E, TSOs or national regulatory authorities. Below are the documents and associated decision letters.

 

15.07.20 The Regulatory Authorities of the IU Capacity Calculation Region have approved the IU ROSC (Regional Operational Security Coordination Methodology) on 18 June 2020.

 

18.02.20 No industry comments were received to the consultation. Informal comments were received from the CRU and were incorporated into the draft. SONI, EirGrid and NGESO submitted the following to their respective regulatory authorities on 18/12/2019.

10.10.19 EirGrid, SONI and NGESO are hosting a consultation from 11 October to 11 November 2019 on the CSA methodology for the Ireland United Kingdom (IU) Capacity Calculation Region (CCR). See Consultation section below for more detail

12.09.19 ACER decided in June 2019 on the final CSA methodology as per System Operator Guideline (SOGL) Article 75. The ACER decision and related Annexes are available here. The final text of the CSAM as contained in Annex I of the decision is available here

16.04.18 Article 18 of the Commission Regulation EU) 2016/1719 establishing a guideline on forward capacity allocation (the FCA Regulation), requires the approval of all regulatory authorities of the Common Grid Model methodology.

  • 11.07.2017 All TSOs submit a proposal for a CGMM.
  • 03.07.2017 EirGrid submits the proposal to CRU.
  • 05.03.2018 CRU requests amendment to the CGMM. Letter requesting amendment

Article 9(6) of Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1222 of 24 July 2015, establishing a guideline on capacity allocation and congestion management (the CACM Regulation), requires the approval of all regulatory authorities of the common grid model methodology.

Article 7 of Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1222 of 24 July 2015, establishing a guideline on capacity allocation and congestion management (the CACM Regulation), requires a plan that sets out how to jointly set up and perform the MCO functions.

14.12.16 The interim NEMO Committee submits a proposal to All NRAs. Letter for submission of proposal

All NEMO proposal for the MCO Plan

15.02.17 CER request an amendment to the MCO plan. Request for amendment

13.04.17 The interim NEMO Committee re-submits a proposal to All NRAs. All NEMO proposal for MCO plan

16.06.17 Approval by All Regulatory Authorities. Letter of approval

26.06.17 CER approves the proposal. Letter of approval

 

12.09.19 ACER decided in June 2019 on the final RAOC methodology as per System Operator Guideline (SOGL) Article 84. The ACER decision and related Annexes are available here. The final text of the RAOCM as contained in Annex I of the decision is available here

Article 44 of Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1222 of 24 July 2015, establishing a guideline on capacity allocation and congestion management (the CACM Regulation), requires a proposal for robust and timely fallback procedures to ensure efficient, transparent and non-discriminatory capacity allocation in the event that the single day-ahead coupling process is unable to produce results.

14.12.16 EirGrid submits proposal to CER on behalf of IU CCR TSOs. IU TSOs proposal for fallback procedures

Explanatory document

13.06.17 Approval by the IU Regulatory Authorities. Letter of approval

14.06.17 CER approves the proposal. Letter of approval

On 17th December 2019 the ‘SONI Submission on the Applicability and Scope of Data Exchange under Key Organisational Requirements, Roles and Responsibilities (KORRR) in accordance with Article 6(4)(b) of the Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1485 of 2 August 2017 establishing a guideline on electricity transmission system operation’ was submitted to the Utility Regulator (UR). On 20 March 2020 the UR issued a letter
to approve SONI’s submission under Article 6.4(b) of the SOGL and requested that SONI publish the approved submission as well as this approval letter on its website.  

In line with this request, and now for completeness, the following documents are available:

Background

A KORRR consultation exercise was carried out in early 2019. There were no responses to this consultation. Please see ‘Consultations’ section below for additional information.

16.04.2018 Article 17 of the Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/1719 establishing a guideline on forward capacity allocation (the FCA Regulation), requires the approval of all regulatory authorities of the Generation and Load Data Provision Methodology.

  • 11.07.17 All TSOs submit a proposal for a GLDPM. GLDPM-v2
  • 03.07.17 EirGrid submits the proposal to CRU.
  • 23.10.17 NRAs unanimously approve without NRAs requiring an amendment.
  • 14.12.17 CRU approves the GLDPM for FCA. Letter of approval

Article 16 of Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1222 of 24 July 2015 establishing a guideline on capacity allocation and congestion management (the CACM Regulation), requires the approval of all regulatory authorities of the Generation and Load Data Provision Methodology.

  • 27.05.16 All TSOs submit a proposal for a GLDPM. GLDPM-v1
  • 13.06.16 EirGrid submits the proposal to CER.
  • 28.10.16 NRAs unanimously approve without the NRAs requiring an amendment.
  • 17.01.17 CER approves the GLDPM. Letter of approval

Article 69 of Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1222 of 24 July 2015, establishing a guideline on capacity allocation and congestion management (the CACM Regulation), requires a common proposal for a single day- ahead firmness deadline.

14.12.16 EirGrid submits proposal to CER on behalf of All TSOs. All TSOs proposal for day-ahead firmness deadline (DAFD) 

Explanatory document

15.05.17 Approval by All Regulatory Authorities. Letter of approval

19.06.17 CER approves the proposal. Letter of approval

06.02.20 Articles 118, 119 and 120 of the Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1485 of 2 August 2017 establishing a guideline on electricity transmission system operation) require the TSOs in all synchronous areas to enter into various operational agreements. Following two rounds of consultation and the regulatory required approval of a number of the methodologies, EirGrid and SONI are now publishing the final agreements:

The SAOA is also available on the ENTSOE Transparency Platform.

Consultations

A number of consultations will be held prior to the submission of proposed new local, regional and European rules.

For European and Regional consultations please visit the ENTSO-E consultation hub.

Local consultations related to the Network Codes are shown below.

10.02.2023 As required by Article 7 of the Emergency and Restoration Network Code, SONI has today published a consultation paper outlining administrative updates to the Terms and Conditions required by Article 4 (2) of that Network Code.

SONI welcomes stakeholder views on the update to these Terms and Conditions, that aligns Network Code documentation with SONI’s existing obligations under Condition 29 of its TSO Licence and the Grid Code.

Responses to the consultation, should be sent to gridcode@soni.ltd.uk by 10th March 2023.

Links:

Updated Terms and Conditions for System Defence Service

Updated Terms and Conditions for System Restoration Services


 

21.08.20 Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2195, establishing a guideline on electricity balancing (EBGL), entered into force on 18th December 2017. Under Article 64, Ireland and Northern Ireland had a derogation on aspects of this Guideline other than those related to participation in development of terms and conditions or methodologies, until 31st December 2019.

Article 18 of EBGL outlines a requirement for TSOs to develop a proposal for terms and conditions for balancing service providers, balance responsible parties, and central dispatch model specific conditions. Article 5 of EBGL outlines a requirement for a proposal for these terms and conditions to be approved by the relevant Regulatory Authority (RA). Article 10 outlines a requirement for TSOs to carry out a public consultation on the proposal for local terms and conditions for at least one month, and for justification for including or not including the feedback from stakeholders to be included in the submission to the RA.

SONI and EirGrid have today published for consultation the proposal for terms and conditions under Article 18 of EBGL. The document being consulted on is here. This consultation runs from 21/08/2020 to 5pm close of business on 21/09/2020. Please email your submission to Christopher.Goodman@soni.ltd.uk or Martin.Kerin@EirGrid.com with the subject title “EBGL – Article 18 Local Terms and Conditions Proposal Consultation”. Please indicate within your submission if you wish for it to be treated confidentially.

15.07.20 The Regulatory Authorities of the IU Capacity Calculation Region have approved the IU ROSC (Regional Operational Security Coordination Methodology) on 18 June 2020.

18.02.20. No industry comments were received to the consultation. Informal comments were received from the CRU and were incorporated into the draft. SONI, EirGrid and NGESO submitted the following to their respective regulatory authorities on 18 December 2019.

10.10.19 Article 75 and 76 of Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1485 of 2 August 2017 establishing a guideline on electricity transmission system operation (SOGL) pertain to Coordinated Security Analysis. Following on from the ACER decision on the Coordinated Security analysis methodology in June, SONI, EirGrid and National Grid ESO have developed a draft CSA methodology for the Ireland United Kingdom (IU) Capacity Calculation Region (CCR). All three TSOs are consulting on this draft methodology from October 11th until November 11th. Please find the draft methodology here and an explanatory note here. Responses should be sent to gridcode@soni.ltd.uk by end of day 11 November 2019. Note all responses will be shared with all three TSOs and all three National Regulatory Authorities, and may be published. If you would prefer your response not to be published please mark it confidential.

12.09.2019 ACER decided in June 2019 on the final CSA methodology as per System Operator Guideline (SOGL) Article 75. The ACER decision and related Annexes are available here. The final text of the CSAM as contained in Annex I of the decision is available here.

12.09.2019 ACER decided in June 2019 on the final RAOC methodology as per System Operator Guideline (SOGL) Article 84. The ACER decision and related Annexes are available here. The final text of the RAOCM as contained in Annex I of the decision is available here

25.01.2019 On the 14th September 2017, the Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1485 establishing a guideline on electricity transmission system operation (SO GL) entered into force. Article 40(6) of SO GL required all TSOs to agree on Key Organisational Requirements, Roles and Responsibilities (KORRR) relating to Data Exchange. KORRR was approved by the All Regulatory Authority on 19th December 2018, and will serve as the basis for what TSOs, DSOs and Significant Grid Users (SGUs) will need to do to comply with Articles 41 to 53 of SO GL. TSOs, DSOs and SGUs will need to comply with KORRR from 14th March 2019.

SGUs are the target audience of this consultation. SGUs are as defined under Article 2(1) of SO GL, which are;

(a) existing and new power generating modules that are, or would be, classified as type B, C and D in accordance with the criteria set out in Article 5 of Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/631;

(b) existing and new transmission-connected demand facilities;

(c) existing and new transmission-connected closed distribution systems;

(d) existing and new demand facilities, closed distribution systems and third parties if they provide demand response directly to the TSO in accordance with the criteria in Article 27 of Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/1388;

(e) providers of redispatching of power generating modules or demand facilities by means of aggregation and providers of active power reserve in accordance with Title 8 of Part IV of SO GL; and

(f) existing and new high voltage direct current (‘HVDC’) systems in accordance with the criteria in Article 3(1) of Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/1447.

The requirements of KORRR apply to new and existing SGUs.

Under Article 40(5) of SO GL, the TSO is required to co-ordinate with DSOs and SGUs within its Observability Area on the applicability and scope of data exchange. Also, under Article 40(7) each TSO is to reach an agreement with relevant DSOs on the processes and formats of data exchange between them. The purpose of this consultation is:

  1. To define the TSO’s and DSO’s proposed applicability and scope of KORRR.

  2. To enable the accurate incorporation of SGU interactions under KORRR to the TSO-DSO agreement.

  3. To provide SGUs with clear information of the TSO’s and DSO’s proposed SGU commitments under KORRR, and a mechanism for SGUs to provide feedback to the TSO and DSO ahead of the TSO-DSO agreement in March 2019

 

Current data exchange practices are already largely aligned with KORRR. As a result, the proposals in this KORRR consultation align with current practices and the requirements of the Grid Code and Distribution Code. SONI is seeking your feedback on a number of proposals which reflect this, with the below documents available for download:

  1. KORRR SGU Consultation – Northern Ireland

  2. KORRR

  3. KORRR SGU Consultation Response Template – Northern Ireland

The consultation runs from 25 January 2019 to 17:00 close of business 25 February 2019 inclusive.

We look forward to receiving your feedback and will use it to inform our submissions to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. A response template has been provided to facilitate this feedback (see point 3 above). Please email your submission by 17:00 25 February 2019 to gridcode@soni.ltd.uk  with the subject title “KORRR SGU Consultation”.

 

This proposal document is produced jointly by SONI Ltd. in its role as the Transmission System Operator in Northern Ireland and NIE Networks in its role as the Distribution Network Operator in Northern Ireland.

EirGrid in its role as the Transmission System Operator in Ireland and ESB Networks in its role as the Distribution System Operator in Ireland are holding a similar consultation with SGUs in Ireland.

 

 

16.11.2018 Utility Regulator issued a Decision Paper, it is available to download here.

16.05.2018 SONI and NIE Networks submitted our ‘Proposal for RfG Banding Thresholds’ to the Utility Regulator. 

Download the proposal document here.

14.07.17 The TSO has issued a Minded-To Position Paper that can be downloaded here

07.04.17 (Consultation closed). Download the consultation document here.

 

08/02/2022 UR decision paper on Test Plan Proposal for Northern Ireland

Following the below Test Plan consultation and submission, the Utility Regulator issued a decision paper on 8 February 2022. It is available to download here. The final Test Plan proposal document, as submitted, can be found here.

07/05/2021 The below Test Plan Consultation is now closed.

09/04/2021 SONI Public Consultation on Test Plan Proposal

Regulation (EU) 2017/2196 establishing a network code on electricity emergency and restoration (NCER) aims to maintain operational safety and prevent the spread of an incident on the electricity network that could result in a widespread failure.

Consequential to a number of requirements mandated by NCER, SONI is seeking your feedback on the Proposal for Test Plans for Northern Ireland. This document is available for download.

1. Test Plan Proposal for Northern Ireland – For Consultation

The consultation runs from 09 April 2021 to 07 May 2021 at 5pm inclusive.

We look forward to receiving your feedback and will use it to inform our submissions to the Utility Regulator. A response proforma has been provided to facilitate this feedback (within document 1 above). Please email your submission by 17.00 on 07 May 2021 to gridcode@soni.ltd.uk with the subject title “Test Plan Consultation – Northern Ireland”.

19/02/2021 SONI submitted the below following proposal documents to the Utility Regulator on 16 October 2020.

  1. System restoration plan for Northern Ireland
  2. System defence plan for Northern Ireland
  3. The terms and conditions to act as a restoration service provider for Northern Ireland
  4. The terms and conditions to act as a defence service provider for Northern Ireland
  5. The rules for the suspension and restoration of market activities for Northern Ireland
  6. Definition of Significant Grid User Northern Ireland

The Utility Regulator issued a decision paper on 10 February 2021. It is available to download here.

21/08/2020 This consultation is now closed.

07/08/2020 Regulation (EU) 2017/2196 establishing a network code on electricity emergency and restoration (NCER) aims to maintain operational safety and prevent the spread of an incident on the electricity network that could result in a widespread failure.

The below consultation published on 03/07/2020 is being extended in order to allow for further stakeholder responses.

The consultation will now close at 5pm close of business Friday 21 August 2020.

Please email your submission by 17.00 on 21 August 2020 to gridcode@soni.ltd.uk with the subject title “Emergency and Restoration Consultation – Northern Ireland".

08.07.2020 Regulation (EU) 2017/2196 establishing a network code on electricity emergency and restoration (NCER) aims to maintain operational safety and prevent the spread of an incident on the electricity network that could result in a widespread failure.

Consequential to a number of requirements mandated by NCER, SONI is seeking your feedback on a number of documents. The documents are available for download:

  1. System restoration plan for Northern Ireland re-submission 
  2. System defence plan for Northern Ireland re-submission  
  3. The terms and conditions to act as a restoration service provider for Northern Ireland re-submission 
  4. The terms and conditions to act as a defence service provider for Northern Ireland re-submission 
  5. The rules for the suspension and restoration of market activities for Northern Ireland re-submission 
  6. Response proforma re-submission  

The consultation runs from 8 July 2020 to 5pm close of business 7 August 2020 inclusive.

We look forward to receiving your feedback and will use it to inform our submissions to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. A response proforma has been provided to facilitate this feedback (see document 6 above). Please email your submission by 17.00 on 7 August 2020 to gridcode@soni.ltd.uk with the subject title “Emergency and Restoration Consultation – Northern Ireland”.

01.10.2019 Utility Regulator issued a Decision Paper, it is available to download here

18.12.2018 EirGrid submitted the following proposal documents to the Utility Regulator:

14.12.2018 Consultation closed.

14.11.2018 Regulation (EU) 2017/2196 establishing a network code on electricity emergency and restoration (NCER) aims to maintain operational safety and prevent the spread of an incident on the electricity network that could result in a widespread failure.

Consequential to a number of requirements mandated by NCER, SONI is seeking your feedback on a number of documents. The documents are available for download:

  1. System restoration plan for Northern Ireland 
  2. System defence plan for Northern Ireland 
  3. The terms and conditions to act as a defence and restoration service provider for Northern Ireland 
  4. The rules for the suspension and restoration of market activities for Northern Ireland 
  5. Response proforma for Northern Ireland

The consultation runs from 14 November 2018 to 5pm close of business 13 December 2018 inclusive.

We look forward to receiving your feedback and will use it to inform our submissions to the Utility Regulator. A response proforma has been provided to facilitate this feedback (see document 5 above). Please email your submission by 17h00 13 December 2018 to gridcode@soni.ltd.uk with the subject title “Emergency and Restoration Consultation – Northern Ireland”.

 

11.07.23 The Utility Regulator issued a decision paper; it is available
to download here.

05.04.23 SONI re-submitted an updated Proposal for the General Application of the
HVDC Requirements for Northern Ireland
 to the Utilities Regulator on 05 April 2023.

26.06.19 The Utility Regulator issued a decision paper; it is available to download here.

04.02.2019 SONI submitted our Proposal for the General Application of the HVDC Requirements for Northern Ireland to the Utilities Regulator on 21 December 2018.

08.12.2018 Consultation closed.

The Network Code HVDC Code is one of three Connection Codes which form part of the European Network Codes. It seeks to provide a clear legal framework for grid connections and facilitate electricity trading whilst ensuring system security, facilitating the integration of HVDC connections, including DC-connected Power Park Modules, as well as the associated system services while ensuring a more efficient use of the network.

HVDC ‘entered into force’ on 15 September 2016, and applies to high voltage direct current systems and direct current-connected power park modules that conclude a final and binding contract for the purchase of their main plant after 15 September  2018.

As part of the national implementation of HVDC, the relevant TSO of each member state needs to submit a proposal for requirements of general application. It is not a requirement of HVDC to consult upon the proposal for requirements of general application prior to submission to the Utility Regulator. The TSO is issuing this consultation document in the interest of transparency and to ensure that the TSO has the best information available to them to submit an appropriate set of recommendations to the Utility Regulator for the proposal of requirements of general application.

We look forward to receiving your feedback and using it to improve our proposal. A template has been provided to facilitate this feedback. Please email your submission by 7 December 2018 to gridcode@soni.ltd.uk  with the subject title “HVDC Consultation on Parameter Selection – Northern Ireland”.

Download the consultation document here

Download the response template here

09.04.19 The Utility Regulator issued a decision paper, it is available to download here.

01.10.18 SONI and NIE Networks submitted our Proposal for the General Application of the DCC Requirements for Northern Ireland to the Utilities Regulator on 21 September 2018.

06.07.2018 The Network Code Demand Connection Code is one of three Connection Codes which form part of the European Network Codes. It seeks to provide a clear legal framework for grid connections and facilitate electricity trading whilst ensuring system security, facilitating the integration of demand side system services and ensuring a more efficient use of the network.

DCC ‘entered into force’ on 7 September 2016, and applies to demand Units, demand facilities, distribution systems and closed distribution systems that conclude a final and binding contract for the purchase of their main plant after 7 September  2018.

As part of the national implementation of DCC, the relevant TSO of each member state needs to submit a proposal for requirements of general application. It is not a requirement of DCC to consult upon the proposal for requirements of general application prior to submission to the UR. The TSO and DSO are issuing this consultation document in the interest of transparency and to ensure that the TSO and DSO have the best information available to them to submit an appropriate set of recommendations to the UR for the proposal of requirements of general application

We look forward to receiving your feedback and using it to improve our proposal. A template has been provided to facilitate this feedback. Please email your submission by 10 August 2018 to gridcode@soni.ltd.uk with the subject title “DCC Consultation on Parameter Selection - Northern Ireland”.

Download the consultation document here.

Download the response template here

16.11.2018 Download the Utility Regulator decision paper here

16.05.2018 SONI and NIE Networks submitted our ‘Proposal for the General Application of the RfG Requirements for Northern Ireland’ to the Utility Regulator. Download the proposal document here

13.02.2018 The TSOs and DSOs received a number of requests to extend the consultation deadline. As this is the first major Network Code consultation for the implementation of the Connection Codes, we decided to extend the deadline by an extra week until Friday 16th of February.

17.01.2018 SONI and NIE Networks have updated the consultation document with a number of clarifications.

RfG Parameter Consultation Northern Ireland Updated with Clarifications RED LINE VERSION

RfG Parameter Consultation Northern Ireland Updated with Clarifications GREEN LINE VERSION

11.01.2018 The slide deck from the Workshop on the RfG Consultation on Parameter Selection Northern Ireland, dated 11.01.2018, is available here.

11.01.2018 To facilitate public engagement on the RfG Consultation on Parameter Selection – Northern Ireland, the TSO (SONI) and the DSO (NIE Networks) hosted an industry workshop in Belfast. The slide deck from the Workshop on the RfG Consultation on Parameter Selection Northern Ireland, dated 11.01.2018, is available here.

20.12.2017 (Consultation closed)

Download the consultation document here.

Download the response template here.

29.11.2017 This public consultation is a proposal for the determination of Load Frequency Control blocks in accordance with Article 6 (3) (g) and Article 141(2) of Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1485 establishing a guideline on electricity transmission system operation.

This public consultation document is produced jointly by EirGrid plc in its role as the Transmission System Operator in Ireland and SONI Ltd in its role as the Transmission System Operator in Northern Ireland.

This consultation applies to the synchronous area that spans Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Responses should be submitted to EirGrid and SONI at gridcode@eirgrid.com before 5pm on 8 January 2018.

Download the consultation document here.

Please find the final submitted version (dated 31 July 2018 and submitted to Utility Regulator on 6 September 2018) of the LFC Block agreement here

The Utility Regulator approved the LFC Block Agreement on 5 November 2018. The approval document can be found on the Utility Regulator website here.

 

20.10.22 Updated SAOA and LFCBOA. as of 20/10/2022.

06.02.20 The final documents can be found here: SAOA and LFCBOA. They come into force on 15/2/20. 

09.01.20 The CRU and Utility Regulator published their Approval on the Title 2 methodologies of the SAOA and LFCBOA which can be found here and here.

15.11.19 The CRU and Utility Regulator published their Decision on the proposed Title 2 methodologies of the SAOA and LFCBOA which can be found here and here.

26.08.19 EirGrid and SONI submitted amended proposals on Title 2 of the SAOA and LFCBOA to their respective Regulatory Authorities on 23.08.19. Further amendments were made to Title 1 and title 3 of both documents; however these do not require regulatory approval. The updated SAOA can be downloaded here and the updated LFCBOA can be downloaded here.

14.08.19 Consultation is now closed.

15.07.19 Following the Regulatory Authorities’ Request for Amendment (RfA) on the submitted SAOA and LFCBOA, SONI and EirGrid have updated the documents. SONI and EirGrid are now carrying out a one month consultation on the revised versions and welcome any feedback, in particular on Title 2 of each document. The updated SAOA can be found here and the updated LFCBOA can be found here. Responses to the consultation should be sent to gridcode@soni.ltd.uk or gridcode@eirgrid.com by 17h00 on Wednesday 14.08.2019. Responses will be shared with the Regulatory Authorities and may be published on our websites. Please indicate if you would prefer for your response not to be published.

24.06.19 The CRU and Utility Regulator published their Request for Amendment to the proposed SAOA and LFCBOA which can be found on the CRU website here and the Utility Regulator website here.

24.01.19 EirGrid and SONI submitted draft proposals on the SAOA and LFCBOA to their respective Regulatory Authorities on 21.12.18. The draft SAOA can be downloaded here and the draft LFCBOA can be downloaded here.

09.11.18 Consultation is now closed.

This consultation concerns the EirGrid and SONI proposals relevant to Ireland and Northern Ireland for the Synchronous Area Operational Agreements (SAOA) and the LFC Block Operational Agreements (LFCBOA). These have been developed in accordance with Articles 118 and 119 respectively of the Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1485 of 2 August 2017 establishing a guideline on electricity transmission system operation (SOGL).

SOGL requires that TSOs of each synchronous area responsible for operating load frequency control and reserves, which for Ireland is EirGrid, and for Northern Ireland is SONI, should develop SAOA and LFCBOA.

The SAOA and LFCBOA are contained in two respective documents with text relative to the legal articles.  These documents aim at presenting operational rules from Ireland and Northern Ireland according to the pan-EU framework, thereby facilitating greater cross-border cooperation in matters of security and the development of cross-border balancing services in terms of sharing and exchange of reserves.

Why are we consulting?

SOGL Articles 118 and 119 methodologies that are also referenced in SOGL articles 6(3)(d), 6(3)(e) and article 11 must have a statutory public consultation prior to National Regulatory Authority approval.  These are Title 2 Articles in the SAOA and LFCBOA documents.

Link to the Consultation

The consultation was launched on the ENTSO-E website on 08 October 2018. The consultation papers and the response details are hosted on the ENTSO-E website located here. Responses to the consultation should be sent to gridcode@soni.ltd.uk by 17h00 on 08 November 2018. We look forward to receiving your feedback.