- Transparency, a mutual and common understanding are ground pillars in the Nordic power system. Now is the time to ensure a common practice in how we run the Nordic operations, says Statnett CEO Hilde Tonne.
Hence, Statnett has decided to operate the system using the same principles as Svenska kraftnät. This means that system protection schemes will not be used to optimize the cross zonal capacity, and reduce the export capacity from southern Norway to Sweden.
The limitations set by Svenska kraftnät on the the cross zonal capacity between SE3 and NO1 and the challenges in the Swedish transmission grid, have led to export from NO1 to SE3 despite a lower price in SE3. Simultaneous have shown that there are periods with export to SE3 with equal or a lower price in NO1.
The Nordic power system is going through significant changes which have been known for some years. These changes are linked to reduction in nuclear power generation, increased wind power and the building of offshore grids and interconnectors.
- A well-functioning market demands transparency and a balanced and predictable access to capacity with equal terms for capacity calculation on both sides of the border. The principles for calculating the trade capacity should be as equal as possible, Tonne explains.
System protection schemes contributes to increase the trade capacity on connections both internal and between the Nordic countries. At the same time system protection schemes inflict a risk for the system operator. Statnett have installed system protection schemes to optimize the power flow. Svenska Kraftnät has chosen not to do so. Now, Statnett chooses not to use the system protection scheme between NO1 and SE3.
- We are worried about this situation and are in dialogue with Svenska kraftnät about this problem. Forward, we will give input on how to run the power system so we can increase the capacity on important cross border connections. Until we have solutions in place, we find it natural to execute a common practice, as Svenska Kraftnät, to ensure symmetry and balance in our cooperation, Tonne concludes.