Elia System Operator
| Founded | 28 June 2001 |
|---|---|
Key people | Chris Peeters (CEO) |
Number of employees | 1,229 employees in Belgium and 955 in Germany |
| Subsidiaries | 50Hertz Transmission, Eurogrid, Elia Grid International |
| Website |
elia |
Elia[1] is Belgium's transmission system operator (TSO) for high-voltage electricity (30,000-380,000 volts). The company transmits electricity from generators to distribution system operators, who then supply SMEs and homes. Elia also has contracts with a number of major industrial users who are directly connected to its high-voltage grid.
Elia's main activities include managing grid infrastructure (maintaining and developing high-voltage installations), managing the electrical system (monitoring flows, maintaining the balance between electricity consumption and generation 24/7, importing and exporting to and from neighbouring countries) and facilitating the market (developing services and mechanisms with a view to developing the electricity market at national and European level).
European Directive 96/92/EC on the liberalisation of the electricity market was implemented at federal level through the law of 29 April 1999 on the organisation of the electricity market. Elia was established on 28 June 2001 by merging the Company for the Coordination of the Generation and Transmission of Electrical Energy (CPTE) with the Electrabel entity managing the 30-380 kV grid, and in 2002 it was appointed transmission system operator, in accordance with the Electricity Act of 29 April 1999. Elia has been listed on the stock exchange since June 2005 and in the BEL20 since 2012. In 2010, Elia and Industry Funds Management acquired one of the four German transmission system operators, 50Hertz Transmission, which operates in northern and eastern Germany. This move made the Elia Group one of Europe's five biggest transmission system operators.
Elia Group also offers consulting and engineering services through its subsidiary Elia Grid International (EGI), founded in 2014.
Tariffs
Elia's transmission tariffs[2] are regulated by the Belgian Commission for Electricity and Gas Regulation (CREG). They include:
- connection to the transmission grid;
- use of the transmission grid;
- provision of ancillary services;
- maintenance and restoration of the individual balance of access responsible parties;
- any internal inconsistency between the nominations communicated by two access responsible parties;
- public service obligations imposed on the transmission system operator;
- surcharges.
On 3 December 2015, CREG approved a new tariff schedule for the period 2016-2019.
Transmission tariffs make up part of electricity bills, along with energy prices, distribution tariffs and levies.
Legal framework
Elia is subject to Belgian and European legislation, with a regulator at each level to oversee its activities.
The regulator at federal level is the Belgian Commission for Electricity and Gas Regulation (CREG); at regional level the Flemish Electricity and Gas Regulator (VREG), Walloon Energy Commission (CWaPE) and Brussels Gas and Electricity (BRUGEL); and at European level the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER).
Key figures
Grid[3]
- Length of Elia's high-voltage networks in Belgium
- Underground cables: 2,874 km
- Overhead lines: 5,558 km
- Total: 8,432 km
- 800 high-voltage substations
- 22,000 high-voltage pylons
- 23,000 operations performed on the grid in 2015
Flows[4]
- Load: 77.1 TWh in 2015 compared to 77.2 TWh in 2014
- Highest load in 2015: 12,696 MW at 6 p.m. on 22 January 2015
- Lowest load in 2015: 5,530 MW at 2.30 p.m. on 2 August 2015
- Imports: 21 TWh in 2015 compared to 17.6 TWh in 2014 (up 19.3%)
- Exports down 54.1% in 2015.
- Physical exchanges with neighbouring countries: 26 TWh in 2015 compared to 24.8 TWh in 2014 (up 4.8%)
Capital expenditure in 2015[5]
- Elia: €350 million
- 50Hertz: €902 million
- Investment budget of €1.6 billion for the period 2016-2019 (excluding the Nemo interconnection project between Belgium and the United Kingdom).
References
- ↑ http://www.elia.be/fr/a-propos-elia/qui-sommes-nous
- ↑ http://www.creg.be/fr/tarifparametranssearch.asp
- ↑ Elia, 2015 Annual Report p. 18
- ↑ Elia, 2015 Annual Report p. 29
- ↑ Elia, Annual Report pp. 14, 71
Further reading
- http://economie.fgov.be/fr/consommateurs/Energie/Electricite/Liberalisation_marche_electricite/Transport/#.V1AfW2df2rQ page of the FPS Economy, SMEs, Self-employed and Energy (in French)
- 'Electricity' tab on the CREG website (in Dutch and French)