Experimental flexibility tenders

RTE contributes to the integration of flexibilities, particularly storage, into the power system and tests their contribution to resolving local congestion through experimental flexibility tenders.

These calls for tenders aim to remunerate the reservation of a capacity and its activation, over a multiannual period, provided that this flexibility offers a solution for delaying or avoiding transmission system adaptation.

Two important new steps in the launch of these calls for tenders were taken with the publication of the contract notice and the opening of the consultation on the contract template.

Contract notice

The publication of the contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ) on 22/12/2021 (n°2021/S 248-658014) officially marks the beginning of the process of selecting RTE’s partner(s) for this experiment.

The contract notice covers two separate lots, corresponding to the Sétier (lot A) and Perquie (lot B) zones:

• the call for tenders for the Sétier zone will be launched first quarter of 2022;
• for the Perquie zone, the call for tenders will be launched at a second stage.

Each of the lots may be awarded to a maximum of one winner. The same winner may be selected for both zones.

The application for the contract notice is not binding: it does not require candidates to respond to future tenders. However, it is a prerequisite: only candidates declared qualified at the end of the procedure will be invited to respond to the tender.

Market participants wishing to participate in the calls for tender are invited to apply by 31/01/2022 at the latest, in accordance with the procedures specified in the contract notice.

Publication of the standard contract

The publication of the standard contract on 22/12/2021 also constitutes an important milestone for the experiment. The document is the result of several months of consultation with the market participants on the characteristics of the service, such as the conditions of eligibility, the commitment of the parties, the conditions of remuneration and load reductions checks.

The consultation is ongoing: interested market participants are invited to participate in the consultation published on concerte.fr and to submit any comments before 31/01/2022.

RTE will take this feedback into account in order to finalise the standard contract. It will then be drawn up for each tender according to the characteristics of each zone.

The draft specifications of the experimental tenders will also be proposed for consultation in the first quarter of 2022, which will allow the contractual framework of the experimental flexibility tenders to be completed.

Contact

You can direct all your questions relating to this procedure to rte-ao-flexibilite@rte-france.com.

For more information on experimental flexibility tenders, go to: Flexibilities: provide your services for network congestion management - RTE Services Portal (services-rte.com)

January 06, 2022