FantasticSearch

1. Member States shall take all appropriate measures to address congestions. Bidding zone borders shall be based on long-term, structural congestions in the transmission network. Bidding zones shall not contain such structural congestions unless they have no impact on neighbouring bidding zones, or, as a temporary exemption, their impact on neighbouring bidding zones is mitigated through the use of remedial actions and those structural congestions do not lead to reductions of cross-zonal trading capacity in accordance with the requirements of Article 16. The configuration of bidding zones in the Union shall be designed in such a way as to maximise economic efficiency and to maximise cross-zonal trading opportunities in accordance with Article 16, while maintaining security of supply.

2. Every three years, the ENTSO for Electricity shall report on structural congestions and other major physical congestions between and within bidding zones, including the location and frequency of such congestions, in accordance with the capacity allocation and congestion management guideline adopted on the basis of Article 18(5) of Regulation (EC) No 714/2009. That report shall contain an assessment of whether the cross-zonal trade capacity reached the linear trajectory pursuant to Article 15 or the minimum capacity pursuant to Article 16 of this Regulation.

3. In order to ensure an optimal configuration of bidding zones, a bidding zone review shall be carried out. That review shall identify all structural congestions and shall include an analysis of different configurations of bidding zones in a coordinated manner with the involvement of affected stakeholders from all relevant Member States, in accordance with the capacity allocation and congestion management guideline adopted on the basis of Article 18(5) of Regulation (EC) No 714/2009. Current bidding zones shall be assessed on the basis of their ability to create a reliable market environment, including for flexible generation and load capacity, which is crucial to avoiding grid bottlenecks, balancing electricity demand and supply, securing the long-term security of investments in network infrastructure.

6. On the basis of the methodology and assumptions approved pursuant to paragraph 5, the transmission system operators participating in the bidding zone review shall submit a joint proposal to the relevant Member States or their designated competent authorities to amend or maintain the bidding zone configuration no later than 12 months after approval of the methodology and assumptions pursuant to paragraph 5. Other Member States, Energy Community Contracting Parties or other third countries sharing the same synchronous area with any relevant Member State may submit comments.

7. Where structural congestion has been identified in the report pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article or in the bidding zone review pursuant to this Article or by one or more transmission system operators in their control areas in a report approved by the competent regulatory authority, the Member State with identified structural congestion shall, in cooperation with its transmission system operators, decide, within six months of receipt of the report, either to establish national or multinational action plans pursuant to Article 15, or to review and amend its bidding zone configuration. Those decisions shall be immediately notified to the Commission and to ACER.

8. For those Member States that have opted to amend the bidding zone configuration pursuant to paragraph 7, the relevant Member States shall reach a unanimous decision within six months of the notification referred to in paragraph 7. Other Member States may submit comments to the relevant Member States, who should take account of those comments when reaching their decision. The decision shall be reasoned and shall be notified to the Commission and ACER. In the event that the relevant Member States fail to reach a unanimous decision within those six months, they shall immediately notify the Commission thereof. As a measure of last resort, the Commission after consulting ACER shall adopt a decision whether to amend or maintain the bidding zone configuration in and between those Member States by six months after receipt of such a notification.

9. Member States and the Commission shall consult relevant stakeholders before adopting a decision under this Article.

4. For the purposes of this Article and of Article 15 of this Regulation, relevant Member States, transmission system operators or regulatory authorities are those Member States, transmission system operators or regulatory authorities participating in the review of the bidding zone configuration and also to those in the same capacity calculation region pursuant to the capacity allocation and congestion management guideline adopted on the basis of Article 18(5) of Regulation (EC) No 714/2009.

5. By 5 October 2019 all relevant transmission system operators shall submit a proposal for the methodology and assumptions that are to be used in the bidding zone review process and for the alternative bidding zone configurations to be considered to the relevant regulatory authorities for approval. The relevant regulatory authorities shall take a unanimous decision on the proposal within 3 months of submission of the proposal. Where the regulatory authorities are unable to reach a unanimous decision on the proposal within that time frame, ACER shall, within an additional three months, decide on the methodology and assumptions and the alternative bidding zone configurations to be considered. The methodology shall be based on structural congestions which are not expected to be overcome within the following three years, taking due account of tangible progress on infrastructure development projects that are expected to be realised within the following three years.

10. Any decision adopted under this Article shall specify the date of implementation of any changes. That implementation date shall balance the need for expeditiousness with practical considerations, including forward trade of electricity. The decision may establish appropriate transitional arrangements.

11. Where further bidding zone reviews are launched under the capacity allocation and congestion management guideline adopted on the basis of Article 18(5) of Regulation (EC) No 714/2009, this Article shall apply.