+ RTE informs you about the overhaul of the capacity mechanism

The capacity mechanism aims to ensure the electricity supply in France during peak winter period through the availability of generation capacities & demand response capacities.

The current capacity mechanism in France is due to expire in 2026. The public authorities have then appointed RTE to lead a dialogue with the stakeholders on the design of the future mechanism from 2022.

Operating principles of the new capacity mechanism

The principles below are not final, as consultation is still ongoing.
The new capacity mechanism will be based on the following principles: 

•  RTE will contract the capacity volume (in MW) necessary to ensure the electricity supply in France for each delivery period. This delivery period will cover an electric winter that extends over two calendar years (November to March).
• This contractualization will take place after auctions to select the required capacities at the best price for the community. There will be two auctions when the new capacity mechanism is fully operational: the first in the years preceding the delivery period and the second in the months preceding the delivery period. For the capacities selected in the auctions, the capacity operators will contractually commit to the availability of these capacities during peak period of the delivery period in return for a payment by RTE (this payment will be made after verification of the capacities’ availability during the delivery period). Availability commitments may be exchanged between capacity operators on a secondary market.
• The contractualization’s cost of the capacity volume will be passed on to suppliers (and end-consumers purchasing electricity directly on the wholesale market) by means of a tax levied by RTE. The amount of this tax will be proportional to the consumption of each supplier (or end-consumer purchasing electricity directly on the wholesale market) during peak period of the delivery period.

Participants of the new capacity mechanism

The same participants of the current capacity mechanism will participate in the new capacity mechanism, i.e. capacity operators, suppliers and system operators, but in different ways.

The former roles of Certified Entity Holder and Capacity Portfolio Manager will be merged into one: Certification perimeter holder (TPC), who will be accountable to RTE for the availability commitments on its perimeter. The TPC either operates the sites on its perimeter or has a delegation from third-party operators to operate their sites on the capacity mechanism.

In order to participate in the new capacity mechanism, the TPC must sign a Participation agreement (AP) with RTE, which will be valid for the entire duration of the new capacity mechanism.

Suppliers will no longer have to hold capacity guarantees but will be subject to a tax calculated on the consumption of their customer portfolio (in the case of suppliers) or on their direct consumption (in the case of end-consumer purchasing electricity directly on the wholesale market) during peak period of the delivery period.

Each system operator will be responsible to certify the capacities on its service area (RTE for the capacities connected to the public transmission network and the foreign capacities, the DSOs for the capacities, connected to the public distribution network) during the certification period. 

Preparing for the operational implementation of the new capacity mechanism

In parallel to finalizing the design, RTE has started preparing the operational implementation of the new capacity mechanism to ensure continuity between the current and the future capacity mechanism in 2026.
This preparation is based on Technical workshops (AT), the aim of which is to provide operational information on tools, processes and implementation timetables. Stakeholders can find the AT materials below and contact RTE to be included in future ATs (held in French).

Find out more

Pursuant to Article L. 141-7 of the French Energy Code, the French reliability standard is set by the Minister in charge of energy on a proposal from the CRE (French energy regulator). It represents the level of security of supply accepted by the community and is therefore used as a reference for the dimensioning of the power system through RTE’s adequacy studies and the “Bilan prévisionnel” multiannual adequacy study published each year by RTE.
The reliability standard is a key parameter of the French capacity mechanism, as it determines the capacity volume necessary to ensure the electricity supply in France: the capacity mechanism is therefore inherently designed to ensure that this standard is met.

• Article L.141-7 du code de l’énergie
• Article D. 141-12-6 du code de l’énergie
• Arrêté du 5 aout 2022 relatif au critère de sécurité d’approvisionnement électrique mentionné à l’article L.141-7 du code de l’énergie

Contact

Your sales representative is at your disposal for any additional information on the capacity mechanism.
For any technical aspect regarding the operational implementation of the new capacity mechanism you can contact RTE on the following email addresses:

• rte-nouveaumecapa-reglementaire@rte-france.com – for every technical question and request for registration to the ATs
•  rte-nouveaumecapa-si@rte-france.com – for every IT question (access to RTE information system, file format …)

Additional information

Link to the information page for the current capacity mechanism: Participate in the capacity mechanism - RTE Services Portal