These FAQs are provided to supplement the IFA User Guide, and should be read in conjunction with the Guide (in particular, the "Important Notice" in the Guide).
1. Who can bid for access?
To bid for access you will need to sign an IFA User Agreement - there are no restrictions on who can apply for that agreement. You also need to satisfy a few other criteria in the IFA Access Rules. For example, you need to be of good financial standing, put in place certain agreements and establish the necessary software and communications interfaces. You must make these arrangements and have an eligibility notice before you bid.
2. What agreements do I need to put in place to bid and use my capacity, and when?
The necessary agreements are set out in the Participation / Eligibility Requirements and in Rules B2 and E8 of the IFA Access Rules. You will need to have all agreements in place before you can take part in any auction.
3. What do I need to do, and by when, to be able to use any capacity obtained, to trade in the British electricity market?
Users will need to meet a number of requirements both for access to the British Transmission System and under the Balancing and Settlement Code (market requirements). Further information is included in Sections 2 and 3 of the Participation / Eligibility Requirements.
4. What credit cover do I need?
You will need to give credit cover before you can bid in tenders and auctions (see Rule B6). You decide the amount of the credit cover and this sets your bidding limit. If you are awarded capacity the credit cover is then treated as the source of collateral by which payments due in respect of such capacity are secured until such time as these commitments have been fully discharged (see Rule B7). The amount is calculated under the IFA Access Rules.
A draft form of Letter of Credit is available on this website under the Notice and General Information.
5. How will Users participate in the daily auctions?
Users will access the Capacity Auction System, a screen based auction system established by National Grid and RTE, to bid for capacity on a daily basis.
6. What software and communication interfaces will Users need to gain access to the Capacity Auction System for daily auctions?
Users will need to have a link with the Capacity Auction System to enable them to participate in the daily auctions. The Minimum Technical Requirements to enable Users to connect to the auction system are available within the Notice and General Information section of this website. For more information contact Vince Hammond on + 44 (0)1926 653449.
7. What interfaces will be required to use capacity acquired?
Once capacity is secured Users will be required to submit Mid Channel Nominations (MCN) to both National Grid & RTE separately. The MCN submitted to National Grid should be a copy of that submitted to RTE and vice versa.
An MCN submission to National Grid should be made using the same Electronic Data Transmission (EDT) communication link as any other Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) party. Users will need to install these links or use an agent.
Submissions to RTE should be made using their Operational System - details of the technical requirements for interfacing to this system will be made available by RTE upon request.
8. Can I assign capacity?
The IFA Access Rules allow for the assignment of capacity subject to minimum criteria. Rule E9 covers Reassignment.
A copy of the
notice to be submitted when making a capacity reassignment is published on this website under Documentation.
9. What are the subcontracting arrangements?
You can "subcontract" your capacity, and the IFA Access Rules leave it up to the User and the sub-contractor concerned to make their own arrangements. From National Grid and RTE's point of view, their legal relationship remains with the User who acquired the capacity - they do not wish to prevent sub-contracting but neither do they wish to be involved in it.
10. Can I appoint an agent?
If you wish to use an agent to perform your obligations under the Rules, you should discuss this with National Grid and RTE. We would expect that only one agent could be appointed for each User at any time; notice of any change in the agent would be needed; and National Grid and RTE would be entitled to rely on all acts and omissions of the agent as acts and omissions of the User.
11. What is the relationship between force majeure and curtailment?
Curtailment will apply and curtailment rebates will be paid even if due to a force majeure event.
12. How are transmission constraints treated?
Since initially it is not possible to undertake trading within Balancing Mechanism (BM) timescales, constraints can be resolved by Balancing Services Contracts between National Grid and RTE. In this instance Users' Metered Volume will be unaffected by the constraint. When access and trading arrangements within BM timescales are available, then National Grid and RTE can resolve transmission system constraints by accepting BM bids/offers from Interconnector Users. Where disconnection of interconnector assets from the transmission system occurs then this will be treated as a reduction in interconnector capability - this treatment is consistent with that applied to other British market participants.
13. Will Interconnector outage data be published?
An indicative schedule of outages during the forthcoming 3 years is published in the Interconnector Outage Programme 2006. Historical Outage information is published as Annex 1 of the IFA User Guide.
14. What information is available on the availability of other Interconnectors, so that traders can secure transit?
Available Transfer Capacity on the continental network is published regularly. There are also developments in access arrangements for other French Interconnectors. The most notable of these is the Interconnector with Spain, and discussions are under way on access to the Interconnectors on the Italian border.
15. What real time information will be available?
No real time information will be available directly, but Users will be notified of outages as soon as possible.
16. What will happen if capacity is bought but not used?
When a User submits a CAR Notice notifying the operators that surplus capacity is not required, the capacity will be offered in the daily auction and if sold, the User will receive the proceeds (with some adjustments). However, in order to avoid blocking, if capacity is neither used nor notified as not required, it will be lost - the principle of "Use It or Lose It".
17. Will emergency support still apply?
The Interconnector will still be used for emergency support. This is required only very rarely - indeed only once over the last 10 years. The provision of emergency support will not affect Users.
18. Who will be responsible for transfer errors?
Unlike a generator, who controls the output of their plant, the interconnector is controlled by the two system operators. The system operators will manage the flows over the interconnector to reflect the notified positions of Users. Any transfer errors (the difference between the level of flows requested by Users and the actual level of flows) will be charged to the Interconnector Error Administrator rather than to Users. National Grid and RTE are jointly undertaking the Interconnector Error Administrator role and funding it from revenues from the interconnector.
19. How will the Transmission Charge Pass Through Charge be calculated and allocated, and how much is it likely to be?
The charges for Transmission Network Use of System (generation) will be allocated to all users purchasing capacity for importing into England. For 2005/06 the charge is approximately £2.63 million. Assuming that 2000 MW of import capacity is sold this equates to £3.58/MW/day.
Further information on National Grid's transmission charges and other known costs associated with participating as an Interconnector User in the British market arrangements is published in the Summary Cost Information.
20. Will the trading arrangements be kept under review?
National Grid and RTE will jointly review the access arrangements in the light of developments in the electricity markets of France and Britain, and at other times as necessary. National Grid and RTE will consult with Users in the User Forum (see Rule A2.4 of the IFA Access Rules) with the objective of identifying possible improvements to the interconnector access arrangements and will bring forward amendments to the IFA Access Rules (under Rule A4) where appropriate.
21. The initial rules on the Interconnector do not facilitate participation in the Balancing Mechanism in Britain - will they in the future?
This is something that we recognise and we are working towards establishing arrangements to facilitate participation in the balancing mechanism. There are a number of complex issues to resolve to make this practical and arrangements outside the British market need to be considered. The Interconnector "gate closure" is day-ahead, whilst BETTA gate closure is 1 hour ahead. At present, the continental markets mostly co-ordinate their international power exchanges day-ahead and the Interconnector daily auction timescales were designed for compatibility with this. It is of course quite likely that European markets will shorten their timescales in the future, and of course the French Balancing mechanism is being developed now. We will be keeping a watchful eye on these developments and bring forward amendments to the IFA Access Rules (under Rule A4) where appropriate (see also answer to the previous question).