Alternative Transport Rights (ATR) are a contract type that allows you to use your full transport capacity most of the time. During the remaining time, this capacity is limited or must be used flexibly.
On the electricity grid, balance refers to the continuous equilibrium between electricity generation and consumption. This balance is essential for a stable and reliable grid. If generation and consumption are not aligned, deviations in frequency and voltage occur, which can lead to wear or damage to installations.
A buy order is a bid in which a market party offers to temporarily increase electricity consumption or reduce generation compared to its original schedule. Buy orders are used in the redispatch process to resolve expected congestion within 24 hours (intraday).
A Capacity Limitation Contract (CBC) is an agreement between a grid operator and an electricity consumer or producer. In this contract, the participant temporarily reduces consumption or feed-in in return for compensation. This creates available capacity on the grid when it is needed most.Read more »
A congestion area is a part of the electricity grid where transport capacity has reached its limit, temporarily or structurally. Demand for transport exceeds what the grid can safely handle locally. These areas are listed on the Capacity Map published by the Dutch grid operators.
Congestion management is the set of measures used to prevent and resolve congestion on the electricity grid. When a local transport constraint occurs, due to deviations from the planned schedule (e-programme), grid operators actively adjust to keep the grid safe and balanced.
A congestion situation occurs when, at a specific moment, the electricity grid needs to transport more power than is technically safe. There is temporarily insufficient transport capacity, and the grid reaches its local limit.
A counter bid is the order placed outside the congestion area to maintain the national balance on the electricity grid. Together, the bid and counter bid (buy and sell) resolve a congestion situation without creating imbalance. The counter bid is an essential part of the redispatch process.
A Congestion Service Provider (CSP) is a market party that deploys flexible capacity on behalf of one or more connected parties to help resolve grid congestion.
A CSP connects flexibility to the market and fully unburdens the customer.
An EAN code (or EAN number) is the unique identification code of a connection to the electricity grid. EAN stands for European Article Number, but in the energy sector it refers to an 18-digit code that uniquely identifies each grid connection. In the Netherlands, these codes typically start with 871, followed by 15 digits.
In the context of redispatch, effectivity refers to the extent to which a flexibility bid within a congestion area contributes to resolving local congestion. Since electricity flows freely across the grid, not every change in consumption or production has the same impact on a specific bottleneck. A solution located physically close to the congested part of the grid will generally have a greater effect than one further away.
Within GOPACS, the effect of a specific bid on the power flow and direction across a congested net element is calculated. A bid with high effectivity – with a value close to or equal to 1 – significantly reduces congestion, while a bid with an effectivity of 0 has no effect. Effectivity is determined in advance by the grid operator using network calculations and is recorded in an effectivity matrix.
On the congestion market, trading platforms are digital marketplaces where market parties trade flexible capacity via redispatch to help resolve grid congestion. These platforms facilitate electricity trading and enable participants to submit bids to increase or decrease their energy production or consumption, depending on the needs of the grid. This allows them to manage risks and capture value from market opportunities.
A flexibility bid is a proposal from a Congestion Service Provider (CSP) to temporarily make flexible capacity available via redispatch on the congestion market, helping to prevent or resolve grid congestion. A flex offer follows a market announcement and consists of several standard components.
Flexible capacity is the ability to temporarily adjust electricity consumption or generation in response to the needs of the grid. This means an installation can, at certain moments, consume less electricity, generate more, or temporarily shut down. Flexible capacity helps keep the grid balanced and prevents overload—also known as grid congestion.
A GDS is a Closed Distribution System: a private electricity network that distributes power to multiple users within a clearly defined area.
Grid congestion occurs when, in certain areas, there is temporarily insufficient transport capacity to carry all generated and consumed electricity.
The location component is the specific geographical identifier of a connection on the electricity grid, defined by its EAN code. This component is essential for identifying the physical location where flexible capacity is offered or requested.
A mandatory bidding contract is an agreement between a grid operator and a party with flexible capacity, such as a large consumer or producer. With this contract, the participant commits to always submitting a redispatch bid on the intraday market when congestion is expected. This enables timely relief of the grid.
A market announcement is a request for CSPs to submit a redispatch or flex offer on one of the connected trading platforms. These bids are submitted as buy and sell orders, both inside and outside the congestion area.
MLOEA is a Dutch abbreviation for Multiple Suppliers on One Connection. It is a setup where a party purchases electricity from a different supplier than the one to whom it supplies electricity.
Reactive power is the electricity that flows through the grid to create magnetic fields in equipment such as cables, motors and transformers, but does not deliver usable energy itself.
Redispatch is the process by which grid operators deploy flexible capacity to resolve a congestion situation expected within the same day (intraday). With the rapid growth of wind and solar energy, around half of our electricity is now generated decentrally. This makes the system more sustainable, but also more complex. At times, parts of the grid become congested. Redispatch shifts generation or consumption, exactly where and when needed. Within congestion management, market parties are incentivised via the electricity market to contribute.
A sell order is a bid in which a market party offers to temporarily decrease electricity consumption or increase generation compared to its original schedule. Sell orders are used in the redispatch process to resolve expected congestion within 24 hours (intraday).
The spread is the price difference between a buy order and a sell order used in redispatch to resolve congestion. This difference arises because market parties set their own bid prices.
Transport capacity is the amount of electricity that can be safely and reliably transported via the grid of the grid operator to and from a connection or area.
