Interconnections
The Belgian grid is part of an interconnected system stretching from Portugal to Poland.
Available border transmission capacity is mainly determined by:
- the topology of the European grid (i.e. components in service and how they are interconnected) ;
- exchanges between countries;
- periods of unavailability on the 380/220 kV grid (unavailability of transmission lines, phase-shifting transformers or major generation units) in Belgium or in a neighbouring country.
Belgium's central position in the European transmission system means it has to cope with significant unscheduled physical flows (i.e. energy exchanges which are not governed by a commercial agreement between countries, but are simply due to the fact that energy moves freely through the grid without stopping at borders). Such flows are a major source of uncertainty for Elia when calculating the amount of energy that can be exchanged with neighbouring countries.
Visit Transmission capacity at borders for more information on Elia’s capacity calculation methods.
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Elia has set up interconnection capacity allocation mechanisms to enable energy exchanges between countries. The mechanisms meet the market’s needs in a transparent and non-discriminatory way.
Annual and monthly capacity
Joint auction rules for the allocation of capacity across borders within the CWE (Central West Europe) region were implemented on 1 November 2009, as agreed between the seven transmission system operators active in the CWE region. The auctions are organised by CASC.EU, an auction office. Auctions are organised to allocate annual and monthly capacity across Belgium’s borders.
Daily capacity
The implicit allocation of daily capacity through market coupling was expanded to include the CWE region on 9 November 2010 (for 10 November 2010), replacing the previous market coupling between France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Intraday capacity
A joint mechanism for the allocation of intraday capacity across the French-Belgian border was launched on 14 May 2007 (for 15 May 2007).
At the Dutch-Belgian border, intraday capacity has been implicitly allocated using the Elbas trading system since 17 February 2011 (for 17 February 2011), replacing the previous explicit mechanism.
Visit Cross-border mechanisms for more information about current allocation mechanisms.
To learn more about previous mechanisms, visit Mechanism history.
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Visit this section’s sub-pages for information on the operational data below:
- forecasts and capacities available during various timeframes;
- auction results;
- nominated capacities;
- physical flows;
- deactivated Elia grid components.
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