How to become an Outage Planning & Scheduling Agent
The responsibilities of Outage Planning Agents (OPA) and Scheduling Agents (SA) are defined respectively in the OPA contract and the SA contract signed by the BRP.
OPA contract & SA contract
Coordination by Elia of technical units is governed:
- in the OPA contract (Outage Planning Agent contract) for the Outage Planning process and
- in the SA contract (Scheduling Agent contract) for the scheduling and redispatching processes.
Technical units with an installed capacity of 25 MW or more that are connected to the Elia grid, are subject to these contracts. Other generation units may also be included in these contracts in order to assist with the coordination process carried out by Elia (units which are liable to seriously affect the Elia grid) or offer specific system services (if the signing of a contract for the Outage Planning Agent and/or a contract for the Scheduling Agent is a prerequisite for provision of the service).
The Balance Responsible Party (BRP) takes the role of Outage Planning Agent (OPA) and Scheduling Agent (SA) for each of the relevant technical units in its portfolio by signing the OPA contract and the SA contract with Elia.
Future transition
In the (near) future, Elia will amend the OPA contract and the SA contract as part of first phase of the iCAROS program and in line with the new regulatory framework laid down by the European Guideline on Electricity Transmission System Operation.
In accordance with the Federal Grid Code (Article 377), during a transitional period running until the implementation of the second phase of iCAROS design, the BRP will, by default, act as the Outage Planning and Scheduling Agent. The specific conditions for the appointment of Outage Planning and Scheduling Agents will be defined, respectively, in the future OPA and SA contracts.
