I propose to take Questions Nos. 1266 and 1269 together.
Under the Electricity Regulation (Amendment) (Single Electricity Market) Act 2007, regulation of the Single Electricity Market (SEM), including its detailed rules as set out in the Trading and Settlement Code, is the responsibility of the SEM Committee. The SEM Committee consists of the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER), the Utility Regulator Northern Ireland (URegNI) and an independent member, with each entity having one vote.
The operation and administration of the Single Electricity Market is managed by the Single Electricity Market Operator (SEMO). The SEMO is a joint venture between the transmission system operator for Ireland, EirGrid plc., and the system operator for Northern Ireland Limited. The SEMO is licensed and regulated by the CER in Ireland and its counterpart in Northern Ireland, the URegNI.
I have no function in the day-to-day operational matters of the CER, of the SEM Operator or of the SEM Committee.
The transmission system operators (TSOs) on the island are required to report to the CER and URegNI on why renewable energy was dispatched-down and the measures being taken to prevent inappropriate curtailment. EirGrid’s Annual Wind Constraint and Curtailment Report also includes data relating to research done as part of the work streams. Details of curtailed (dispatched-down) energy in the SEM over the past 6 years are set out in Appendix B of the latest report (available at http://www.eirgridgroup.com/).
The following table details payments made to renewable electricity generators from 2011 to 2015. Figures for 2016 are not yet available.
Calendar Year
|
Time Weighted Average System Marginal price ( SMP) (€/MWh)
|
Annual Curtailed/Constrained Volume (MWh)
|
Estimated energy payments to Variable Renewable Generation curtailed/constrained (€)
|
2011
|
61.77
|
105,917
|
6,542,493
|
2012
|
63.17
|
80,908
|
5,110,958
|
2013
|
65.67
|
118,067
|
7,753,460
|
2014
|
56.66
|
165,477
|
9,375,927
|
2015
|
50.71
|
275,162
|
13,953,465
|
The SEM Committee decided in SEM-13-010 www.semcommittee.com that curtailment payments will not arise in certain situations from 1 January 2018 onwards.
In tandem, Eirgrid’s DS3 Programme aims to deliver an increase in the level of wind that the system can handle, and reduce the level of curtailment incurred. In regard to curtailment and its contribution to energy bills, while there is a cost associated with constraining off or down some renewable generators, the aggregate impact on consumer bills of increased renewables is a positive one.