The synchronisation of the Baltic electricity systems with Europe is absolutely the right step, but the costs of de-synchronisation will affect everyone and from July two new components will be introduced in the payments for electricity, LETA was told by AJ Power Chairman Roberts Samtiņš.
He explained that after the synchronization of the power grid with Europe, AS “Augstsprieguma tīkls” (AST) will incur costs related to the maintenance of reserve capacities. In accordance with the regulations, costs related to the maintenance of reserve capacities are planned to be passed on to end users through electricity traders. Consequently, from the 1st of July, two new components will be introduced in payments for electricity.
Among other things, Samtiņš indicated that one will be attributed to all electricity consumption and will be about three euros per megawatt hour (MWh).
In turn, the other will be attributed to electricity traders and will be equated to the amount of their imbalance, or the difference between the planned and physically transferred to or received from the system within a certain interval, which each trader will create. This could be approximately 40 EUR/MWh for each unit of imbalance.
“These costs will be passed on to end consumers via merchants, so the cost of de-synchronisation will affect everyone,” said Samtiņš.
He explained that the costs will have to be compensated either way. This is why the costs will end up affecting residents one way or another.
“Creating the synchronization of the Baltic electricity systems with Europe is absolutely the right step and the costs associated with it are inevitable. The question is how they will be covered,” said Samtiņš, adding that there are two options.
One option, according to him, is to fully include them in the AST tariff, which means that it should, at the very least, double.
Later, they would also switch to any electricity user through the “Sadales tīkls” tariff. The second option is to transfer these costs to end consumers not through the AST tariff, but through electricity traders, perhaps in some way softening the impact from a rise in costs, and it was a political decision to choose this option, said the chairman of AJ Power.
“We, as well as other electricity traders, have criticised this model because it creates a high degree of uncertainty for us, as some of the costs are still not really known and the transitional period is short enough, but contracts for electricity trading are usually concluded for a year. Also, there will inevitably be an obligation to explain why payments increase, which will fall on the shoulders of electricity traders, and not AST or the “Sadales tīkls”, said Samtiņš.
When asked whether this means that everyone who has equalized or fixed payments must take into account that at some time there will be amendments to the contracts for the purchase of electricity and the fee will change, Samtiņš explained that amendments to the contracts are therefore unlikely to be made, as the laws and regulations provide for the possibility to include these costs in the end-user’s invoice. “The bills will reflect a new position – the maintenance of reserve capacities,” said the head of AJ Power.