Med-TSO Secretary General at Medreg training for the Israeli Electricity Regulator
Medreg, the association of Mediterranean Energy Regulator, organized a training for the staff of Israeli Electricity Regulator (Public Utility Authority) in Jerusalem, on 14-15 May 2019, titled “The Economics of Regulation Moving from Monopolies to Competitive Wholesale Electricity Markets”.
The objective of the training was to enhance the knowledge of Israeli PUA’s staff on the framework for electricity market design in Europe that can provide guidance on how to address the market reform currently taking place in Israel. The major issue addressed was what market rules, market structures, and legal and regulatory institutions would be necessary to establish a competitive wholesale market that would provide the maximum possible benefits to consumers consistent with the long-term financial viability of the industry.
Med-TSO was invited to contribute to the training by providing the point of view of TSOs, in light of the intense cooperation program put in place by the two Associations.
The training was divided in two sessions, one per day: on 14 May, the session topic was “Market Design – Wholesale and Retail Markets”, during which it was discussed about the fundamental concepts of economics of wholesale power markets necessary to successful design, monitor electricity markets, and achieve different policy objectives. On 15 May, the topic was “Introducing Competition in National Electricity Markets: Examples” where they were provided concrete examples of regulators that managed the passage from a monopolistic to a competitive electricity market, focusing on the wholesale segment.
The Secretary General of Med-TSO, Angelo Ferrante, was invited to intervene in both sessions.
During the session “How to evaluate price formation to balance demand and supply” of the first day, Mr. Ferrante described the position of a modern TSO in a liberalized context and its role as a market facilitator. He also focused on the role of TSOs in ensuring stability and efficiency of the system, highlighting the main changes in the passage from a vertically integrated to a liberalized system. He concluded highlighting future developments in market design for supporting the energy transition.
On the second day, the Secretary General of Med-TSO intervened in the session “Models of organization of the transmission network” depicting the most used organizational models for the management of the Electricity Transmission Grid, based on the EU experience, namely the Ownership Unbundling, the Independent Transmission Operators and the Independent System Operators models. He concluded his contribution illustrating how this process has been implemented in some European countries, highlighting the lessons learnt.
Medreg is an Association born in 2007 under the Italian law and it currently gathers 27 energy regulators from the Mediterranean basin. This association promotes a transparent, stable and compatible regulatory framework in the Mediterranean Region, fostering market integration and infrastructure investments, as well as consumer protection and enhanced energy cooperation with the objective to implement the conditions for the establishment of a future Mediterranean Energy Community, based on a bottom-up approach.