German regulator will not progress investigation into electricity congestion

The German energy regulator has today announced that it intends not proceed to a formal decision on the management of internal electricity network congestion. The regulator bases this view on a study undertaken by Consentec and Frontier (Europe). The consultants concluded that

• structural bottlenecks on the system should be tackled by network investment for which appropriate incentives must be ensured;
• any remaining congestions - should they arise - would ideally be managed through a preemptive regime of market splitting/coupling. However, given the implementation times and cost required for a market splitting/coupling regime a redispatch regime would be sufficient under current circumstances in Germany.

This approach will not require a formal decision as respective measures are principally already in place. The regulator leaves open at this stage whether he will further review the specific design of the current redispatch regime.