The Integrated Single Electricity Market (I-SEM) project has completed another major milestone, namely the joint approval and publication of an Agreed Approach Document today, 9th January 2015. This has been jointly drafted by the Regulatory Authorities in Ireland and Northern Ireland (the Commission for Energy Regulation and the Utility Regulator respectively) and the Transmission System Operators and Market Operators, EirGrid and SONI. The document outlines the working and reporting arrangements for the I-SEM project, to ensure a collaborative approach is applied to project deliverables and ultimate I-SEM implementation by Quarter 4 of 2017.
Publication of the Agreed Approach Document is timely as Member States in the EU adopted the Regulation on Capacity Allocation and Congestion Management (CACM) on 5th December 2014 and in doing so approved the extension to the end of 2017 for the full implementation of the electricity target model in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Some aspects of the CACM guidelines will be implemented earlier by the TSOs.
The SEM Committee continues to place high importance on communication with all stakeholders. The Regulatory Authorities will publish an update to their programme and targeted engagement in January 2015. This will include an update on progress made in relation to all RA-led and TSO-led workstreams. The RAs will also host a stakeholder session in Q1 of 2015 to provide an update on the project timetable and communication strategy going forward and a high level outline of the CACM guidelines and their impact on I-SEM. A date and venue for the forum has yet to be confirmed, but an invitation will be issued on the All Island Website (www.allislandproject.org) in due course.