Congestion management is aimed at preventing and resolving congestion situations. It is applied when actual conditions require deviations from the planned electricity transport schedule (e-programme), resulting in a temporary local transport constraint.
In such cases, grid operators can use the GOPACS congestion management platform to:
More broadly, congestion management refers to the full range of measures that grid operators use to mitigate grid congestion — especially in areas where grid reinforcement has not yet been completed. Grid operators work together with market parties and large consumers to reduce local capacity shortages. This is done by utilizing flexible capacity from the market, allowing the available grid capacity to be used more efficiently and preventing overload.
GOPACS is the joint platform of the Dutch grid operators, developed specifically for congestion management. Through GOPACS, grid operators can publish their capacity needs, allowing participants to offer flexible capacity to help resolve or reduce congestion. The platform operates in coordination with existing energy trading platforms such as EPEX SPOT and ETPA, matching buy and sell orders in a targeted and balanced way.
By participating in GOPACS, market parties not only help support a more stable electricity grid, but can also earn financial rewards by offering their flexibility.
