Mainland Europe used 1.7% more power last year, less than in 2003
on mild weather conditions, the Union for the Coordination of
Transmission of Electricity (UCTE) said in its 2004 system adequacy
report published on July 15.
Generation capacity increased by 4%, mainly on a rise in combined
cycle plants and renewable sources of up to 20%. Although the report
showed sufficient generation capacities, two incidents led to
blackouts in Greece and in Luxembourg, while congestion in the
eastern part of the UCTE was more severe than in 2003. Strong
increases of wind generation
in Germany also led to high unscheduled flows on
interconnections.
The report showed sufficient generation reserves for the sum of
the UCTE countries' remaining capacities and that some 5% are needed
for secure operation.
Very bad weather conditions affected the eastern part of UCTE in
November, especially Poland and the Czech Republic, which lost
their interconnection.
The report reviews the adequacy of the electric systems in the
22-country region of mainland Europe extending from Portugal to
Poland and from Germany to Greece.
The "most significant event" of 2004 was the successful
reconnection of synchronous zones 1 and 2 of
UCTE on Oct 10, 2004,
which means UCTE is now a single synchronous zone. Non-hydro
renewable generation rose again by more than 30%, mainly due to wind
power generation development, particularly in Spain and Germany,
impacting transmission system
operation and bringing grids close to their limits, UCTE said.
Cross-border trading was at a high level. On average, 11.5% of
the UCTE countries' national consumption originates from imports
from other UCTE countries. Interconnection capacities were also
reinforced between Spain and Portugal, Hungary and Croatia and
between Germany and Nordel through the Baltic cable.
Very bad weather conditions affected the eastern part of UCTE in
November, especially Poland and the Czech Republic, which lost their
interconnection.
Unscheduled flows resulting from wind power variations stressed
security limits on the interconnections between Germany, Poland, the
Netherlands, Belgium and France, reducing commercial contracts.
On July 1 technical standards for the security of grid networks
became binding for all members of the Union for coordination of
transmission of electricity. UCTE's multilateral agreement has now
entered into force establishing transmission system operators'
rights and obligations. The General Assembly of UCTE agreed at a
meeting in Rome on May 12 to make UCTE security and reliability
standards binding for all UCTE member TSOs in continental Europe.
The move followed the group's agreement on June 24, 2004 to
launch a "Security package" setting out targets to improve the
functioning of the synchronized European electricity transmission
system and hence security of supply. The Security package sets
technical standards and recommendations for the UCTE member TSOs.
These include operation policies for generation control,
performance monitoring and reporting, reserves, security criteria
and special operational measures. The related inter-TSO Multilateral
Agreement (MLA) now in force implements these security and
reliability standards.
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