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Adapting to the Changes Enforced by EU’s Network Codes for Electricity : The Consequences for an Electricity Company from a Distribution System Operator’s Perspective

To reach EU’s climate and energy target an integrated electricity market is considered to be required (Klessmann, et al., 2011; Boie, et al., 2014; Becker, et al., 2013). As a result the European Commission decided to form a set of rules, named the Network Codes, to create a single European market (ENTSO-E, 2013b). The Network Codes will affect Distribution- and Transmission System Operators, grid users and production units as well as all the other actors on the electricity market (Eurelectric, n.d.a). Concerns regarding what the Network Codes’ actual consequences are have been expressed within the line of business (Swedish Energy, 2013a). Therefore the purpose of this master’s thesis was to determine and furthermore illustrate the consequences the Network Codes will have, in current version, for a Swedish non-transmission system connected electricity company and determine what actions need to be taken. The purpose has been addressed by conducting interviews, document studies and by utilizing a change management model, the Intervention Strategy Model, introduced by Paton & McCalman (2000). The structured approach that is the nature of the model was used when determining the consequences the Network Codes enforce and what actions a non-transmission system connected electricity company has to take to cope with them. To further facilitate the determination of these actions this study was conducted on a non-transmission system connected electricity company, in this thesis named Electricity Company A. The investigation of the concerns expressed within the line of business illustrated that the concerns were diverse but a majority of them might be incorporated into either of the following groups, simulation models, demand side aggregator and information handling. Out of these groups information handling was by far the area of greatest concern with issues primarily connected to the Distribution System Operator. Consequently this thesis focused on the Distribution System Operator’s perspective. The analysis of the area of greatest concern, presented in two flow charts, clearly showed the increased amount of communication enforced by the Network Codes. This increased information handling results in numerous possible organisational consequences for the Distribution System Operator, for example might new systems be required and some existing systems be used with or without adaption. Furthermore, the extra workload could possibly be handled by the existing personnel, in some cases after complementary education, but it might also require new personnel. Finally the Network Codes open up for the possibility for the Distribution System Operator to define certain details which may be conducted individually or in cooperation with other Distribution System Operators. Which of these possible consequences that will affect a specific company is, however, dependent on its preconditions. The study on Electricity Company A reveals that the numerous actions required to handle the new communication were not as significant as the line of business might have feared. For Electricity Company A, primarily a new system is needed to handle the real-time values and some of the existing systems need to be updated. Additionally the combined extra work load might require extra personnel for Electricity Company A even though the individual work assignments are fairly small. The actions required should be fairly similar for companies of approximately equal size but might be more extensive for smaller non-transmission system connected electricity companies. All companies need, however, to conduct an individual analysis to determine which specific actions are required for them. The conclusions of this thesis aspired, and partly succeeded, to be generalizable on a European level. One example of this is the usage of the Intervention Strategy Model which proved applicable for determining which specific actions are required for all European electricity companies. Furthermore the concerns presented and the possible consequences of the increased information handling found, are generalizable but not complete for all European electricity companies. This thesis focused on one part of the complex Network Codes’ consequences and consequently further research is needed to fully understand the consequences for the electricity business in total.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:liu-107079
Date January 2014
CreatorsFalk, Karolina, Forsberg, Joel
PublisherLinköpings universitet, Energisystem, Linköpings universitet, Tekniska högskolan, Linköpings universitet, Energisystem, Linköpings universitet, Tekniska högskolan
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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