State of the art of Regional Coordination Centres (RCCs) and their impact on security of electricity supply in Europe : transmission system regional coordination in Europe.
Date: 2024-05-03
Institutions: Joint Research Centre
Subjects: electrical energy, electricity supply, energy policy, energy supply, energy technology, regional cooperation, research report, security of supply

ISSN 1831-9424 

State of the art of Regional Coordination 
Centres (RCCs) and their impact on 
security of electricity supply in Europe 

Transmission System Regional Coordination in Europe 

Foretić, H., Asensio Bermejo, I., Kopustinskas, V., Fulli, G. 

2024 

 EUR 31922 EN 

This  document  is  a  publication  by  the  Joint  Research  Centre  (JRC),  the  European  Commission’s  science  and  knowledge 
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Name: Hrvoje Foretić 
Address: Westerduinweg 3, 1755 LE Petten, the Netherlands 
Email: Hrvoje.FORETIC@ec.europa.eu 
Tel.: +31 2 2456 5227 

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JRC137433 

EUR 31922 EN 

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ISBN 978-92-68-15405-2   ISSN 1831-9424   doi:10.2760/01557  

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How to cite this report: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Foretic, H., Asensio Bermejo, I., Kopustinskas, V. and Fulli, G., State of 
the art of Regional Coordination Centres (RCCs) and their impact on security of electricity supply in Europe, Publications Office of the European 
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Contents 

Abstract ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 

1 

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 

2  Transmission system operation and regional coordination in Europe ................................................................................................... 6 

2.1  Transmission System Operator (TSO)...................................................................................................................................................................... 6 

2.2  The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) ............................................. 8 

2.3  EU energy policy and regulatory authorities .................................................................................................................................................. 12 

2.3.1 

European Commission (EC) ........................................................................................................................................................................... 12 

2.3.2 

National regulatory agencies (NRAs) .................................................................................................................................................. 12 

2.3.3 

The European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) ....................................... 12 

2.3.4 

Nominated Electricity Market Operators (NEMOs) ................................................................................................................. 13 

2.4  Other voluntary cooperation structures .............................................................................................................................................................. 13 

2.4.1 

Pentalateral Energy Forum (AT, BE, DE, FR, LU, NL) ............................................................................................................. 13 

2.4.2 

European Commission’s DG Energy – High level groups ................................................................................................. 13 

2.4.3 

Energy Community ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 

2.4.4  Med-TSO ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16 

3  Establishment of RCCs and legal framework ............................................................................................................................................................. 17 

4  Geographical scope of RCCs and operational timeframes ............................................................................................................................ 19 

4.1  System Operation Regions (SORs) ........................................................................................................................................................................... 21 

4.2  Capacity Calculation Regions (CCRs) ..................................................................................................................................................................... 23 

4.3  Operational and market timeframes .................................................................................................................................................................... 27 

5  Tasks of Regional Coordination Centres .......................................................................................................................................................................... 29 

5.1  Coordinated capacity calculation (CCC) .............................................................................................................................................................. 33 

5.2  Coordinated security analysis (CSA)....................................................................................................................................................................... 36 

5.3  Creation of common grid models (CGM) ........................................................................................................................................................... 41 

5.4  Supporting TSOs in defence and restoration plans’ consistency assessment ............................................................... 43 

5.5  Supporting the TSOs in the coordination of regional restoration .............................................................................................. 45 

5.6  Post-operation and post-disturbances analysis and reporting .................................................................................................... 46 

5.7  Regional sizing of reserve capacity ........................................................................................................................................................................ 47 

5.8  Facilitating the regional procurement of balancing capacity ........................................................................................................ 49 

5.9  Short-term adequacy (STA) assessment ........................................................................................................................................................... 50 

5.10 Regional outage planning coordination (OPC) .............................................................................................................................................. 53 

5.11 Supporting the TSOs in the inter-transmission system operators’ settlement ............................................................ 55 

5.12 Training and certification of RCC staff ................................................................................................................................................................ 56 

5.13 Tasks related to identification of regional electricity crisis scenarios .................................................................................. 57 

5.14 Identification of needs for new transmission capacity and supporting the ten-year network 
development plan (TYNDP) ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 58 

5.15 Calculation of the maximum entry capacity for foreign capacity ............................................................................................. 60 

5.16 Tasks related to the seasonal adequacy assessments ....................................................................................................................... 62 

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6  Approval procedure for (new) RCC task and expansion proposals ......................................................................................................... 64 

6.1  Legislative point of view ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 64 

6.2  RCC’s business point of view ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 65 

7  Proposals for expanding existing RCC task(s) and for new security of electricity supply tasks ................................ 67 

7.1  RCCs support to national and regional electricity crisis scenarios ............................................................................................ 67 

7.2  Critical Grid Situation (CGS) coordination ......................................................................................................................................................... 67 

7.3  System Modification Advice RequesT (SMART) study ........................................................................................................................... 68 

7.4  Modelling of new needs of regional flexibility ............................................................................................................................................. 69 

7.5  Data learning ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 69 

8  Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 71 

References ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 72 

List of abbreviations and definitions ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 76 

List of boxes ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 78 

List of figures ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 79 

List of tables ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 80 

Annex .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 81 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
Abstract 

Europe  boasts  one  of  the  largest  interconnected  electricity  networks  in  the  world,  which  consists  of  a  huge 
number of generation, transmission and distribution components working together to deliver energy to users. 
The European power system, in order to fulfil its core mission - i.e. provide uninterrupted electricity supply to 
consumers - has to function reliably and has to survive a vast number of adverse events.  

In order to better manage such a complex machine, which spans across the EU and several other European 
countries,  an  increasingly  regional  (i.e.  multi-country)  -based  organisation  of  power  system  and  market 
functions  was  put  forward  and  implemented  over  the  past  decades.  This  is  where  Regional  Coordination 
Centres  (RCCs)  came  into  play.  In  recent  years  the  EU  was  affected  by  several  crises,  which  among  others 
highly  impacted  the  electricity  sector  operations.  The  RCCs  were  therefore  recognised  by  the  European 
Commission as a tool to tackle security of supply issues from a regional dimension and mitigate the impact 
on the overall electricity system. The RCCs can provide regional and cross-regional services that no individual 
country-based transmission system entity is in the position to deliver. This also entails that RCCs might have 
to  reconcile  different  interests  of  countries  included  in  a  given  region  and  this  task  can  become  growingly 
strategic  as  well  as  sensitive,  especially  during  crisis  times.  Thus,  RCCs  are  one  of  the  key  actors  in 
transmission system operation in Europe, considering their regional and cross-regional presence in the system 
operation  areas.  For  that  reason,  increasing  RCC-RCC  cooperation  and  active  involvement  in  the  European 
decision-making initiatives appear crucial.  

Besides the RCC overview this report is delivering, few points of improvements for RCCs tasks with forward 
looking vision, mainly in relation to the regional electricity crisis scenarios, are pointed out as well. RCCs could 
provide  dedicated  assistance  to  TSOs  and  ENTSOE  in  the  assessment  of  the  regional  electricity  crisis 
scenarios,  in  particular  on  cross-border  effects,  which  are  the  basis  for  the  regional  crisis  scenarios 
identification.  Altogether  they  can  contribute  in  defining  the  risk-preparedness  strategy  and  plans  that  all 
Member States have to produce and adopt, and which have to cover past, current and emerging threats. In the 
system  adequacy  and  operational  planning  domains,  RCCs  could  contribute  with  regional  overview  and 
simulations of the potential incidents, and show their competence in providing their products stemming from 
their tasks, such as coordinated actions, reports and recommendations, which are independent of national and 
TSOs’ interests. RCC products will become more  valuable  over time as the  decarbonisation of the electricity 
system increases and could be established with timely and proper mandates by the European Union bodies. 

This technical report  has been produced as  part of the Administrative Arrangement (AA) N° ENER/B.4/2022-
381-SI2.889061/36054  between  DG  Joint  Research  Centre  and  DG  Energy.  It  is  related  to  the  deliverable 
“Measures to support security of electricity supply”, more concretely “1.8. Investigation of the role of Regional 
Coordination  Centres  (RCCs)  and  tasks  related  to  the  security  of  electricity  supply  in  Europe  and  Risk-
preparedness Regulation”. 

3 

 
 
1 

Introduction 

The objective of this report is to provide a general overview of transmission system regional coordination in 
Europe, more concretely, Regional Coordination Centres (RCCs), and their regional tasks that are provided to 
Transmission  System  Operators  (TSOs)  and  other  stakeholders  in  their  respective  system  operation  regions 
(SORs).  This  report  aims  to  emphasize  RCC’s  current  and  future-looking  roles  in  the  security  of  electricity 
supply in Europe. It is of utmost importance to understand their impact now and how the RCCs, as one of the 
youngest  entities  in  transmission  of  electricity  in  Europe,  can  further  assist  Member  States  in  regional  and 
cross-regional coordination. 

This  report  consists  of  seven  chapters.  After  the  introduction  (Chapter  1),  transmission  system  operation 
entities in Europe will be briefly presented in the Chapter 2, providing a short description and their respective 
roles. Then in the Chapter 3 the focus will be shifted, and kept further in the report, to RCCs, first by providing 
historical facts related to their establishment and finally the legal framework will be then shortly introduced, 
with a detailed table supporting the Report in  Annex. In the Chapter  4  where and when of the RCCs will  be 
introduced, i.e. the geographical scope of RCCs will be covered, describing where to place them on the map of 
Europe  and  how  to  associate  them  with  different  TSOs.  A  visual  representation  of  various  regions  that  are 
mentioned throughout the legislation and methodologies will be showed further down in the Report, as well 
as  operational  timeframes  in  which  RCCs  are  operating.  In  the  Chapter  5  the  essential  overview  of  all  RCC 
tasks will be presented, by analysing available information related to them. Chapter 6 is featuring the sketch 
of the adoption process and  procedure  for the new RCC task(s)  both from legal and RCC point of view. The 
final, Chapter 7, will present the conventional or non-binding RCC tasks, and the possible development of the 
current tasks, as well as points of improvement from the JRC point of view, finished with the conclusion. 

RCCs,  as  transmission  system  operation  entities,  are  involved  in  the  reshaping  of  the  energy  world  in  the 
electricity domain in Europe, strategy which is based on the well-known EU strategy ‘Five dimensions of the 
Energy Union’ (Table 1).  

Table 1. Five dimensions of the Energy Union. 

Energy Security 

Security of Supply 

Flexibility, 
resilience, recovery 

Solidarity and 
cooperation 

Internal Energy 
Market 

Market Integration 

Cost Efficiency, 
Competition 

Free flow without 
technical and 
regulatory barriers 

Energy Efficiency 

Decarbonisation 
of the Economy 

Innovation 

Improving energy 
efficiency 

Lower CO2 
emissions 

Reducing 
dependence on 
energy imports 

Higher share of 
renewable energy 
sources 

Research 

Clean energy 
technologies 

Competitiveness 

SoS 

MI 

EE 

D 

I 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

In this report the focus will be mostly on the Energy Security dimension with the security of supply being one 
of the main topics. A secure supply of electricity is crucial for consumers. By all means, the security of supply 
is  a  Member  State’s  responsibility,  but  the  European  Union  might  intervene  in  national  affairs  in  case  of 
severe need. Moreover, the much needed energy independency has gained importance by being affected not 
only  by  the  overall  energy  crises  (caused  by  high  energy  prices,  and  increasing  consumption),  but  also  by 
recent geopolitical events that have shaken foundations of once solid electricity system in Europe. 

A  categorization  of  the  RCC  tasks  depending  on  their  function  and  type  of  operational  activity  in  the 
transmission system operation (Table 2) is provided. The characterization of the RCC tasks (Chapter 5 of this 
report) assigns a specific link for each task to these dimensions, based on the impact and contribution. 

4 

 
 
 
 
Table 2. General categories of RCC tasks depending on their purpose. 

Operational Security (OS) 

Tasks  related  directly  to  the  security  of  the  transmission  system  operation, 
short before and close to real-time, in close coordination with the TSOs, such 
as different analyses and grid restoration. 

Operational Planning (OP)  All  tasks  related  to  the  planning  and  preparatory  activities  for  the 
transmission system operation, such as outage coordination, modelling of the 
system and regional electricity crisis scenario identification. 

System Adequacy (SA) 

Tasks related to the transmission system adequacy and in particular to alert 
on and plan measures for possible inadequate scenarios. 

Capacity Allocation (CA) 

Everything related to the calculation and allocation of different capacities on 
the market for different timeframes, from long-term all the way to balancing. 

Miscellaneous (Other) 

Tasks that could not fit in any other category above. 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

Last  but  not  least,  it  is  important  to  note  and  differentiate  two  terms  that  were  being  used  for  the  same 
company entity i.e. RCCs and RSCs - Regional Security Coordinators,  with  former being a new name for the 
latter one. In some older dated documents, methodologies, guidelines, the RSCs can still be found instead of 
RCCs. This is due to de jure modification from 1 July 2022 that changed not only the name but also added 
additional  “services”,  now  tasks,  (Figure  1),  which  shaped  RCCs  into  being  essential  part  of  the  regional 
coordination, if that was not already the case before.  

Figure 1. Changes based on Article 35(2) of the Electricity Regulation 2019/943 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
2  Transmission system operation and regional coordination in Europe 

Transmission  system  operation  in  Europe  is  being  handled  by  several  entities  which  are  interdependent  – 
TSOs,  ENTSO-E  and  RCCs  -  from  mostly  technical  point  of  view,  while  policy  domain  is  governed  by  the 
Member  States,  European  Commission  and  other  EU  bodies  of  which  regulatory  jurisdiction  is  handled  by 
NRAs under the surveillance of EU’s ACER. They cooperate between each other and coordinate actions in all 
timeframes,  from  long-term  planning  up  until  real-time  operation.  The  next  few  paragraphs  provide  a  brief 
overview  of  all  entities,  as  well  as  their  respective  roles  in  the  transmission  system  operation,  with  the 
exception of RCCs whose description forms part of a separate dedicated section of this report. 

2.1  Transmission System Operator (TSO) 

The definition in the Article 2, point 35 of the Common rules for the ‘Internal market for electricity Directive 
(EU) 2019/944’ (Further in the text ‘Electricity Directive’) describes a ‘transmission system operator’ as a: 

Box 1. TSO definition 

“Natural or legal person who is responsible for operating, ensuring the maintenance of and, if necessary, developing 
the  transmission  system  in  a  given  area  and,  where  applicable,  its  interconnections  with  other  systems,  and  for 
ensuring the long-term ability of the system to meet reasonable demands for the transmission of electricity;” 

TSOs  are  national  regulated  entities  operating  the  high-voltage  electric  grid,  and  they  have  to  do  it 
independently, non-discriminatory and transparently from other electricity market players such as generators, 
traders, suppliers, distribution system operators (DSOs) and directly connected customers. Furthermore, TSOs 
are responsible for the operational security of its control area and they additionally have to (SOGL Regulation, 
2017a): 

Box 2. Responsibilities of a TSO 

- Develop and implement network operation tools that are relevant for its control area and  related to real-
time operation and operational planning; 

- Develop and deploy tools and solutions for the prevention and remedy of disturbances; 

-  Use  services  provided  by  third  parties,  through  procurement  when  applicable,  such  as  redispatching  or 
countertrading, congestion management services, generation reserves and other ancillary services; 

-  Comply  with  the  incidents  classification  scale  adopted  by  ENTSO-E  and  submit  to  them  the  information 
required to perform the tasks for producing the incidents classification scale (ICS) (Figure 2); and  

- Monitor on an annual basis the appropriateness of the network operation tools established pursuant to 
points (a) and (b) required to maintain operational security. Each TSO shall identify any appropriate 
improvements to those network operation tools, taking into account the annual reports prepared by ENTSO-E 
based on the ICS. Any identified enhancement shall be implemented subsequently by the TSO.  

6 

 
 
 
Figure 2. ENTSO-E Incident Classification Scale (ICS) 

As envisaged by the Article 40 of the Electricity Directive, tasks of the TSOs are shown in the box below: 

Source: (ENTSO-E, 2022a) 

Box 3. Tasks of TSOs 

Each TSO shall be responsible for: 

- ensuring the long-term ability of the system to meet reasonable demands for the transmission of electricity, 
operating,  maintaining and developing under economic  conditions secure, reliable and  efficient transmission 
system  with  due  regard  to  the  environment,  in  close  cooperation  with  neighbouring  transmission  system 
operators and distribution system operators; 

- ensuring adequate means to meet its obligations; 

- contributing to security of supply through adequate transmission capacity and system reliability; 

- managing electricity flows on the system, taking into account exchanges with other interconnected systems. 
To that end, the transmission system operator shall be responsible for ensuring a secure, reliable and efficient 
electricity system and, in that context, for ensuring the availability of all necessary ancillary services, including 
those provided by demand response and energy storage facilities, insofar as such availability is independent 
from any other transmission systems with which its system is interconnected; 

- providing to the operator of other systems with which its system is interconnected sufficient information to 
ensure the secure and efficient operation, coordinated development and interoperability of the interconnected 
system; 

- ensuring non-discrimination as between system users or classes of system users, particularly in favour of its 
related undertakings; 

- providing system users with the information they need for efficient access to the system; 

-  collecting  congestion  rents  and  payments  under  the  inter-transmission  system  operator  compensation 
mechanism,  in  accordance  with  Article  49  of  Regulation  (EU)  2019/943,  granting  and  managing  third-party 
access  and  giving  reasoned  explanations  when  it  denies  such  access,  which  shall  be  monitored  by  the 
regulatory  authorities;  in  carrying  out  their  tasks  under  this  Article  transmission  system  operators  shall 
primarily facilitate market integration; 

- procuring ancillary services to ensure operational security; 

- adopting a framework for cooperation and coordination between the regional coordination centres; 

- participating in the establishment of the European and national resource adequacy assessments pursuant to 
Chapter IV of Regulation (EU) 2019/943; 

7 

 
 
 
- the digitalisation of transmission systems; 

-  data  management,  including  the  development  of  data  management  systems,  cybersecurity  and  data 
protection, subject to the applicable rules, and without prejudice to the competence of other authorities. 

In  performing  the  tasks  referred  to  in  the  abovementioned  Article,  TSOs  shall  take  into  account  the 
recommendations issued by the RCCs, on which more will be said further in the Report. 

On TSOs, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) is stating that they have to manage the security and stability 
(balancing  markets)  of  high  voltage  power  systems  and  interconnectors  at  national  or  zonal  level,  derive 
revenue  from  network  tariffs  and  network  congestion  income.  They  cooperate  with  each  other  within  the 
framework  of  the  ENTSO–E,  which  has  to  act  with  a  view  to  establishing  a  well-functioning  and  integrated 
internal market for electricity (European Court of Auditors, 2023). 

There are 49 TSOs in Europe operating and owning the transmission grid of their country in Europe, including 
transcontinental Euro-Asian  countries  Armenia,  Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia and Türkiye (Next Kraftwerke, a). 
At least one TSO is present in 26 EU member states (MS), with the exception of Germany divided in four of 
them (50 Hertz, Amprion, Tennet DE, Transnet BW), and Austria in two (APG, VUEN). Only MS without a TSO is 
Malta. Related to the transmission system operation activities, some TSOs are in charge of partially operating 
the grid in the neighbouring country mainly due to practical reasons, such as resources, equipment and better 
overview, example being Creos’ grid (LU) which is operated by both Elia (BE) and Amprion (DE) TSOs. 

2.2  The  European  Network  of  Transmission  System  Operators  for  Electricity 

(ENTSO-E) 

The  European  Network  of  Transmission  System  Operators  for  Electricity  (ENTSO-E)  is  among  other  things 
required to develop network codes and guidelines, platforms and tools to ensure the coordination of the EU’s 
system  operators  under  both  normal  and  emergency  conditions  (European  Court  of  Auditors,  2023).  On  the 
transparency,  ENTSO-E,  and  RCCs,  shall  operate  in  full  transparency  towards  stakeholders  and  the  general 
public.  They  have  to  publish  all  relevant  documentation  on  their  respective  websites  (Electricity  Directive). 
Below is the excerpt on ENTSO-E from the ‘Internal market for electricity Regulation (EU) 2019/943’ (Further 
in the text ‘Electricity Regulation’). 

Box 4. ENTSO-E role 

“1.  Transmission  system  operators  shall  cooperate  at  Union  level  through  the  ENTSO-E,  in  order  to  promote  the 
completion  and  functioning  of  the  internal  market  for  electricity  and  cross-zonal  trade  and  to  ensure  the  optimal 
management, coordinated operation and sound technical evolution of the European electricity transmission network. 

2. In performing its functions under Union law, the ENTSO-E shall act with a view to establishing a well-functioning and 
integrated  internal  market  for  electricity  and  shall  contribute  to  the  efficient  and  sustainable  achievement  of  the 
objectives set out in the policy framework for climate and energy covering the period from 2020 to 2030, in particular by 
contributing to the efficient integration of electricity generated from renewable energy sources and to increases in energy 
efficiency  while  maintaining  system  security.  The  ENTSO-E  shall  be  equipped  with  adequate  human  and  financial 
resources to carry out its duties.” (Electricity Regulation, 2019c) 

8 

 
 
Figure 3. ENTSO-E member and observer member countries 

Source: (ENTSO-E, a) 

In  Figure  3  visual  representation  of  all  countries  by  their  country  code  whose  TSO  is  either  member  or 
observer member of ENTSO-E. There are 40 member TSOs from 36 countries, as ENTSO-E obviously extends 
above  EU  borders.  On  22  November  2023,  Moldelectrica,  the  Moldavian  TSO,  joined  ENTSO-E  as  Observer 
Member.  In  December  2023,  Ukrenergo,  the  Ukrainian  TSO,  became  Member  of  ENTSO-E  after  it  was 
successfully synchronized with the Continental Europe regional group (Figure 4) in April 2022. The Observer 
Membership Agreement passed with TEİAŞ (Turkish TSO) was formalised on 13 December 2022 (ENTSO-E, a). 

9 

 
 
 
Figure 4. Synchronous areas of Europe divided in regional groups (RG) 

RG Baltic
RG Continental Europe
RG Great Britain
RG Ireland
RG Nordic

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

ENTSO-E’s  operations  activities  are  being  monitored  by  the  ENTSO-E  System  Operations  Committee  (SOC). 
The Committee reports to the ENTSO-E Board and Assembly. SOC focuses on the TSOs actions to ensure the 
secure and optimal real-time operation of the grid, enduring resilience of the transmission system. In addition, 
SOC serves also as  platform for the  cooperation between different synchronous areas in Europe (Figure  4). 
Each synchronous area has a Regional Group which also reports into SOC (Table 3).  

10 

 
 
 
 
Table 3. Countries participating in Regional Groups 

Regional Group 

Participating Countries 

Continental Europe 

Austria,  Albania,  Belgium,  Bosnia-Herzegovina,  Bulgaria,  Czechia,  Croatia, 
Denmark  (West),  France,  Germany,  Greece,  Hungary,  Italy,  Luxemburg, 
Moldova  (observer),  Montenegro,  Netherlands,  Poland,  Portugal,  Republic  of 
North  Macedonia,  Romania,  Serbia,  Slovakia,  Slovenia,  Spain,  Switzerland, 
Türkiye (observer), Ukraine (observer) 

Nordic 

Baltic 

Denmark (East), Finland, Norway and Sweden 

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania 

Ireland/ Northern Ireland 

Ireland, Great Britain 

Source: (ENTSO-E, b) 

The  ENTSO-E  secretariat  supports  closely  the  Regional  Group  Continental  Europe,  which  is  the  biggest 
synchronous area. All SOC activities are closely and in more details followed by Steering Groups (SGs) which 
are directly reporting into SOC. SG’s are usually composed of TSO’s and other related entities’ employees. The 
organogram is shown in Figure 5.  

Figure 5. Organogram of ENTSO-E’s System Operations Committee and its Steering Groups 

Source: (ENTSO-E, b) 

For the purposes of RCCs, SG Regional Coordination is the Group that focuses on projects related to RCCs and 
cooperation  on  a  regional  level.  Steering  Group  Regional  Coordination  facilitates,  coordinates  and  develops 
regional  coordination,  most  notably  amongst  RCCs  and  TSOs.  The  Steering  Group  steers  the  business 
requirements,  business  development,  implementation,  rollout  and  operation  of  the  RCC  tasks  where  a  pan-
European  or  cross-regional  approach  is  legally  required  or  is  requested  by  TSOs.  For  regional  RCC  tasks,  it 
facilitates cooperation and coordination among the regions and RCCs and monitors the performance of those 
tasks (ENTSO-E, b). 

11 

 
 
 
2.3  EU energy policy and regulatory authorities  

2.3.1  European Commission (EC) 

In  the  European  Commission  (EC),  the  Directorate-General  for  Energy  (DG  ENERGY)  is  responsible  for 
developing  and  implementing  European  energy  policy.  This  includes  ensuring  the  operation  of  the  energy 
market,  ensuring  the  security  of  energy  supply  within  the  EU,  and  promoting  the  interconnection  of  energy 
networks (European Court of Auditors, 2023). The Commission’s role is to: 

—  Propose policy documents/strategies and legislative measures as required; 

—  Enforce  compliance  with  EU  law,  by  checking  that  the  energy  packages  are  correctly  transposed  into 

national law and applied effectively by the Member States (MSs); 

—  Adopt network codes and guidelines. 

DG ENER is also convenor of the Electricity Coordination Group (ECG), whose mission is to provide a platform 
for strategic exchanges between MSs, national regulators, ACER, ENTSO-E and the EC on electricity policy. Its 
tasks are to assist the EC in relation to the implementation of existing EU legislation, preparation of delegated 
acts and coordination with MSs on various topics. 

2.3.2  National regulatory agencies (NRAs)  

National regulatory agencies (NRAs) are established by the national legislator and must be fully independent 
of national governments. Among other tasks, NRAs are responsible for ensuring domestic compliance with EU 
network  codes  and  guidelines.  NRAs  have  enforcement  powers  within  their  jurisdiction,  can  carry  out 
investigations, and impose penalties. They also have a general obligation to promote the internal market for 
electricity within the EU (European Court of Auditors, 2023).  

In  relation  to  the  duties  and  powers  of  regulatory  authorities  with  respect  to  RCCs,  the  regional  regulatory 
authority of the system operation region in which RCC is established shall, among other points: 

—  Approve the cooperative decision-making process; 

—  Ensure  that  the  RCCs  are  equipped  with  all  the  necessary  human,  technical,  physical  and  financial 
resources  for  fulfilling  their  obligations  under  this  Directive  and  carrying  out  their  tasks  independently 
and impartially; 

—  Propose  jointly  with  other  regulatory  authorities  of  a  system  operation  region  possible  additional  tasks 

and additional powers to be assigned to the RCCs by the Member States of the system operation region; 

—  Ensure  compliance  with  the  obligations  under  the  Electricity  Directive  and  other  relevant  Union  law,  in 
particular  as  regards  cross-border  issues,  and  jointly  identify  non-compliance  of  the  RCCs  with  their 
respective obligations. 

Furthermore,  for  the  purposes  of  carrying  out  duties  in  an  efficient  and  expeditious  manner,  the  regulatory 
authorities shall have at least the following powers: 

—  to request information from the RCCs; 

—  to carry out inspections, including unannounced inspections, at the premises of the RCCs; 

—  to issue joint binding decisions on the RCCs.  

In addition to the above, the regional regulatory authority located in the Member State in which an RCC has its 
seat  shall  have  the  power  to  impose  effective,  proportionate  and  dissuasive  penalties  on  the  RCC  where  it 
does not comply with its obligations under the Electricity Directive (Regulation (EU) 2019/943) or any relevant 
legally  binding  decisions  of  the  regulatory  authority  or  of  ACER,  or  shall  have  the  power  to  propose  that  a 
competent court impose such penalties (Electricity Directive, 2019d). 

2.3.3  The European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER)  

The European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) is an EU agency, which promotes 
the completion of the internal electricity and gas markets and coordinates the work of NRAs on issues with 
cross-border relevance. ACER is committed to enable a high-level of security of supply in a cost efficient and 
non-discriminatory manner (European Court of Auditors, 2023). ACER’s tasks include:  

12 

 
 
—  Advising the Commission, ENTSO-E and the NRAs on energy market design and the security of supply,  

—  Detecting and preventing abuse in trading wholesale energy products, and  

—  Monitoring  how  for  example  network  codes  /  guidelines  are  implemented  in  the  electricity  and  gas 

markets.  

ACER also  has executive powers to issue decisions in specific areas. These decisions are directly  binding on 
the  NRAs  or  market  participants  to  whom  they  are  addressed.  ACER’s  decision-making  body,  the  Board  of 
Regulators, is composed of representatives from each Member State’s NRAs. 

As far as RCCs are concerned, their compliance is governed by NRAs, but will at the request of one or more 
regulatory authorities or at its own initiative, issue a reasoned opinion as  well as a  recommendation to the 
RCCs,  and  if  needed  also  to  ENTSO-E,  the  EU  DSO  entity,  with  regard  to  compliance  with  their  obligations. 
Where  a  reasoned  opinion  of  ACER  identifies  a  case  of  potential  non-compliance  of  an  RCC  with  their 
respective  obligations,  the  regulatory  authorities  concerned  shall  unanimously  take  coordinated  decisions 
establishing whether there is non-compliance with the relevant obligations and, where applicable, determining 
the measures to be taken by the RCC to remedy that non-compliance (ACER Regulation, 2019b). 

2.3.4  Nominated Electricity Market Operators (NEMOs)  

Nominated  Electricity  Market  Operators  (NEMOs)  are  national  entities  designated  by  NRAs  to  ensure  that 
power exchanges in the EU are interconnected and work properly for the day-ahead and intraday timeframes 
(European Court of Auditors, 2023). CACM Regulation defines them as an entity designated by the competent 
authority to perform tasks related to single day-ahead or single intraday coupling. 

2.4  Other voluntary cooperation structures 

2.4.1  Pentalateral Energy Forum (AT, BE, DE, FR, LU, NL) 

In the national energy and climate plan (NECP) MSs are also called to describe the efforts in place to establish 
effective regional agreements with other MSs. In the NECP of Belgium, it dedicates a section to the activities 
undertaken under the voluntary cooperation with some European countries. In 2015 Belgium, the Netherlands, 
Luxemburg, France, and Germany set up the Pentalateral energy forum (PLEF), a regional voluntary initiative 
aimed at fostering actions towards security of supply in the region. Switzerland takes part to the PLEF as an 
observer.  It  needs  to  be  acknowledged  that  the  PLEF  sets  out  already  some  of  the  elements  of  the  Risk-
preparedness  Regulation  in  terms  of  regional  agreements,  like  for  example,  the  willingness  to  cooperate  to 
foster  safety  and  security  of  supply,  cross-border  cooperation,  a  better  assessment  of  the  costs  of  the 
electricity as signals to new investments (Spisto A. et al., 2021). 

2.4.2  European Commission’s DG Energy – High level groups 

Within  the  European  Commission  (EC),  the  mission  of  the  EC’s  DG  Energy  High  level  groups  is  to  provide 
strategic  steering  and  policy  guidance,  monitor  progress  of  projects  of  common  interest  in  priority  regions. 
These groups are (Source: DG ENERGY website): 

—  The North Seas Energy Cooperation (NSEC) (BE, DK, FR, DE, IE, LU, NL, NO, SE) 

o  The North Sea cooperation framework translates into concrete actions for the common interest 
of some central and north European Member States to jointly develop wind energy projects. The 
objectives of this agreement combine a sustainable, secure and affordable offshore renewable 
energy supply in the North Sea with a cost-effective use of cross-border connection of offshore 
wind  farms  to  the  grid,  and  on  corresponding  market  arrangements”  the  Netherlands, 
Luxemburg,  France,  Germany,  The  United  Kingdom,  Ireland  Denmark,  Norway  and  Sweden  are 
part of this initiative, with participation from the European Commission (Spisto A. et al., 2021). 

—  Interconnections for South-West Europe (ES, FR, PT)  

o  The  overall  objective  of  this  group  is  to  ensure  regular  monitoring  of  the  progress  of  the  key 
infrastructure  projects  identified  in  the  Madrid  Declaration  signed  in  2015,  by  France,  Spain, 
Portugal and European Commission. It also aims to provide adequate support to avoid potential 
delays in the implementation of the projects of key importance. 

13 

 
 
 
o  To integrate the Iberian Peninsula the group aims to: 

 

Raise  the  capacity  of  electricity  exchanges  between  Spain  and  France  to  8000  MW  in 
2020  (as  of  2023,  the  exchange  capacity  between  Spain  and  France  is  2800  MW, 
expected to increase to 5000 MW by 2027 1); 

  Carry  out  assessments  in  order  to  complete  the  Eastern  gas  axis  between  Portugal, 

Spain and France; 

 

Ensure  that  the  projects  identified  in  the  Madrid  Declaration  are  implemented  in  a 
timely manner. 

—  Central and South Eastern Europe energy connectivity (CESEC) (AT, BG, HR, GR, HU, IT, RO, SK, SI)  

o  The Central and South Eastern Europe energy connectivity (CESEC) project is an initiative aimed 
at  accelerating  to  integration  of  gas  and  electricity  markets  in  the  South  Eastern  European 
Region.  The  CESEC  high-level  working  group  was  set  up  by  Austria,  Bulgaria,  Croatia,  Greece, 
Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia and the EU in February 2015. 

o  The aims of the group include: 

  Coordinating  efforts  to  facilitate  the  swift  completion  of  cross-border  and  trans-

European projects that diversify gas supplies to the region; 

  Developing  regional  gas  markets  and  implement  harmonised  EU  rules  to  ensure  the 

optimal functioning of the energy infrastructure; 

  Consider  a  joint  approach  on  electricity  markets,  energy  efficiency  and  renewable 

development; 

  A list of priority projects to build an interconnected regional electricity market; 

 

Specific  actions  to  boost  renewables  and  investment  in  energy  efficiency  in  a  region 
with vast growth potential in these areas. 

—  Baltic Energy Market interconnection Plan (BEMIP) (DK, DE, ES, LV, LT, PL, FI, SE) 

o  The primary objective of the Baltic energy market interconnection plan (BEMIP) High-Level Group 
is to achieve an open and integrated regional electricity and gas market between EU countries in 
the Baltic Sea region. The BEMIP also aims to end energy isolation in the Baltic region. The BEMIP 
members are Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Norway 
participates as an observer. 

o  The first  Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the BEMIP initiative was signed on 17 June 
2009  and  focused  on  electricity  and  gas  markets,  infrastructure  and  power  generation.  As  the 
three Baltic States' electricity grid still operates synchronously with the Russian and Belarusian 
systems,  a  dedicated  BEMIP  working  group  steers  the  work  to  achieve,  by  February  2025,  the 
synchronisation of the Baltics' grid with the continental European network. 

o  On 30 September 2020, the Energy Ministers for the 8 EU countries in the Baltic Sea region and 
DG  ENER  Commissioner  signed  a  declaration  committing  themselves  to  closer  cooperation  on 
offshore wind in the Baltic Sea. On 28 October 2021, the BEMIP high-level group adopted a work 
programme  for  offshore  wind  development  in  the  region,  kick-starting  the  implementation  of 
this programme by establishing the BEMIP Offshore Wind Working Group. 

2.4.3  Energy Community  

The  Energy  Community  is  an  international  organisation  which  brings  together  the  European  Union  and  its 
neighbours to create an integrated pan-European energy market. The organisation was founded by the Treaty 
establishing the Energy Community signed in October 2005 in Athens, Greece, in force since July 2006. The 
key  objective  of  the  Energy  Community  is  to  extend  the  EU  internal  energy  market  rules  and  principles  to 
countries in South East Europe, the Black Sea region and beyond on the basis of a legally binding framework.  

1 https://www.euractiv.com/section/electricity/news/france-spain-announce-breakthrough-in-undersea-power-link/, 
https://energy.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2022-12/Infrastructure_factsheet_WestEurope.pdf 

14 

 
 
                                                        
The  Energy  Community  has  nine  Contracting  Parties  -  Albania,  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  Kosovo 2,  North 
Macedonia,  Georgia,  Moldova,  Montenegro,  Serbia  and  Ukraine.  Armenia,  Norway  and  Türkiye  take  part  as 
Observers (Figure 6.) (Source: Energy Community website). 

The mission of the Energy Community Treaty is to: 

—  Establish  a  stable  regulatory  and  market  framework  capable  of  attracting  investment  in  power 

generation and networks; 

—  Create an integrated energy market allowing for cross-border energy trade and integration with the EU 

market; 

—  Enhance  the  security  of  supply  to  ensure  stable  and  continuous  energy  supply  that  is  essential  for 

economic development and social stability; 

—  Improve  the  environmental  situation  in  relation  with  energy  supply  in  the  region  and  foster  the  use  of 

renewable energy and energy efficiency; and 

—  Develop competition at regional level and exploit economies of scale. 

Figure 6. Energy Community membership map 

Contracting Parties
Observers
EU Participants

Source: (Energy Community) 

2  This  designation  is  without  prejudice  to  positions  on  status,  and  is  in  line  with  the  UNSCR  1244  and  the  ICJ  Opinion  on  the  Kosovo 
declaration of independence. 

15 

 
 
 
                                                        
2.4.4  Med-TSO 

An interesting example of cooperation between EU MSs and Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries is 
Med-TSO an association of TSOs of the Mediterranean Sea operating the High Voltage Transmission Networks 
of 19 Mediterranean Countries. They cooperate on the integration of the regional power systems. The activity 
of Med-TSO is supported by the European Union. 

Med-TSO  member  countries  (TSOs)  are:  Albania  (OST),  Algeria  (SONELGAZ),  Croatia  (HOPS),  Cyprus  (TSOC), 
Egypt  (EETC),  France  (RTE),  Greece  (IPTO),  Israel  (IEC),  Italy  (TERNA),  Jordan  (NEPCO),  Lebanon  (EDL),  Libya 
(GECOL), Montenegro (CGES), Morocco (ONEE), Palestine (PETL), Portugal (REN), Slovenia (ELES), Spain (REE), 
Tunisia (STEG), Türkiye (TEIAŞ) (Figure 7.). 

They share the  primary objective of promoting the  creation of a  Mediterranean energy market, ensuring its 
optimal functioning through the definition of common methodologies, rules and practices for optimizing the 
operation  of  the  existing  infrastructures  and  facilitating  the  development  of  new  ones  (Source:  Med-TSO 
website). 

Med-TSO contributes to the achievement of this objective by promoting: 

—  The  coordination  among  the  Med-TSO  Countries  of  their  National  Transmission  Network  Development 
Plans  and  of  their  Power  System  operation,  studying  the  development  of  an  integrated,  secure  and 
sustainable Mediterranean Power System and promoting cross-border projects aiming at facilitating the 
integration of new energy sources (especially from RES), increasing security and quality of power supply; 

—  The  use  of  common  criteria  and  harmonized,  transparent  and  non-discriminatory  technical  rules  for 

guaranteeing the interoperability of the interconnected Power Systems; 

—  Training,  knowledge  sharing  and  technical  assistance  in  the  Region,  facilitating  the  exchange  of 

information, analyses and experiences among the Associates, including the R&D sector; 

—  Enhanced communication and consultation with stakeholders for improving TSOs operation transparency 

and facilitating the public acceptance of transmission infrastructures; 

—  The  cooperation  among  the  Mediterranean  TSOs  and  coordinated  approach  towards  the  Institutions  (in 

particular with the association of the Mediterranean Regulators for energy, MEDREG, ENTSO-E); 

—  The  role  of  TSOs  at  regional  level,  analysing  and  taking  common  positions  on  issues  that  can  have  an 

impact on the development and operation of transmission systems. 

Figure 7. Med-TSO membership map 

Source: (Med-TSO) 

16 

 
 
 
3  Establishment of RCCs and legal framework 

Following a significant power disruption in Europe on 4 November 2006, 15 million people were left without 
power when the synchronous area of Union for the Co-ordination of Transmission of Electricity (UCTE) (now 
known as Continental Europe) was divided into three frequency sub-areas (Figure 8.). This happened due to a 
lack  of  coordination  between  Transmission  System  Operators  (TSOs)  in  the  Central  Western  Europe  (CWE) 
area.  The  European  Commission,  together  with  TSOs,  started  to  look  into  ways  to  improve  coordination 
between  TSOs  to  guarantee  the  safe  operation  of  the  interconnected  system  with  a  view  to  maintaining 
security of electricity supply. 

Figure 8. UCTE area split on 4 November 2006.  

Source: SCC 

The outcomes of the 2006 European blackout investigation, as well as the continued increase in cross-border 
exchanges  and  variable  power  from  Renewable  Energy  Sources  (RES),  were  the  main  reasons  for  some  EU 
TSOs  to  improve  operational  coordination  by  establishing  Regional  Security  Coordination  Initiatives  (RSCIs) 
(Source: SCC website). 

In  2008,  two  RSCIs  were  established  on  voluntary  basis  –  Coreso  in  West  Europe  and  TSCNET  in  Central 
Europe,  established  in  Brussels,  Belgium  and  Munich,  Germany,  respectively.  RSCIs  were  the  forerunners  of 
today’s Regional Security Coordinators (RSCs), while Coreso and TSCNET are the pioneers in terms of regional 
coordination between TSOs in Continental Europe. They were followed by Security Coordination Centre (SCC), 
which started its operation in Belgrade in 2015. On 10 December 2015, ENTSO-E TSOs signed a Multilateral 
Agreement  on  Participation  in  RSCIs  (RSCI  MLA)  that  required  all  TSOs  to  participate  in  RSCs  in  order  to 
receive  five  core  services  from  them  Common  Grid  Model,  Security  Analysis,  Capacity  Calculation,  Outage 
Planning Coordination and Short and Medium Term Adequacy Assessment (Figure 9.). This event caused the 
creation  of  two  new  RSCs  during  2016:  Baltic  RSC,  headquartered  in  Tallinn,  Estonia,  and  Nordic  RSC, 
Copenhagen, Denmark, which covered regions of the same name. 

17 

 
 
 
Figure 9. Five core RSC services 

Source: TSCNET 

In  the  mid-2017,  RSCs  are  recognised  by  EU  law,  when  the  SOGL  Regulation,  one  of  the  main  EU  network 
codes, was implemented. In  May  2020, the last RSC to join the group was SEleNe CC (Southeast Electricity 
Network  Coordination  Center)  based  in  Thessaloniki,  Greece.  With  the  establishment  of  SEleNe  CC  total 
number of RSCs in Europe was six (Source: SCC website). Following the approval of the regulatory authorities 
in  the  EU,  on  1  July  2022,  RCCs  replaced  the  regional  security  coordinators  (RSCs)  pursuant  to  the  SOGL 
Regulation and were pursuant to Article 35 of the Electricity Regulation. Furthermore, services were renamed 
tasks, and increased from the initial five to now sixteen (which will be presented in the next chapters of the 
report). This does not include SCC, which resides in Europe but is not yet part of the EU, thus technically it is 
still considered an RSC (Table 4). Today RCCs (and RSC) are one of the main entities in the EU transmission 
system operation, alongside TSOs and ENTSO-E. 

Table 4. European RCCs and RSC 

RCCs / RSC 

In function since  Headquarters 

1.  Baltic RCC 

2016 

Tallinn, Estonia 

2.  Coreso 

2008 

Brussels, Belgium 

3.  Nordic RCC 

2016 

Copenhagen, Denmark 

4.  SCC RSC 

2015 

Belgrade, Serbia 

5.  SEleNe CC 

2020 

Thessaloniki, Greece 

6.  TSCNET Services 

2008 

Munich, Germany 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

It was also  mandated that in performing their tasks under EU legislation, RCCs should act independently of 
individual  national  interests  and  independently  of  the  interests  of  TSOs.  RCCs  will  complement  the  role  of 
TSOs by performing tasks of regional relevance that were assigned to them. TSOs will however be responsible 
for managing electricity flows, taking into account exchanges with other interconnected systems and ensuring 
a  secure,  reliable  and  efficient  electricity  system.  The  detailed  list  of  all  related  EU  legislative  acts, 
methodologies, guidelines and links guiding to each document is laid out in the Table 25. in Annex, which will 
be pointed out to a number of times further in the report. 

18 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
4  Geographical scope of RCCs and operational timeframes 

In this chapter when and where of the RCCs will be roughly introduced. On the map of Europe in Figure 10 it is 
shown  which  countries  and  their  respective  TSOs  are  shareholders  and/or  service  users  of  which  RCC, 
according to the information provided by RCCs on their websites. As stated earlier, SCC is still technically an 
RSC as it is not yet based in the EU, however it is worthy to mention it below. 

—  Baltic RCC is evidently operating in the Baltic countries in the Baltic synchronous area covering AST (LV), 

Elering (EE) and Litgrid (LT) TSO’s.  

—  By  being  situated  in  Brussels,  Coreso  took  over  a  role  of  regional  coordination  of  most  West  and 
Southwest European TSOs, these being 50 Hertz (DE), EirGrid (IE), Elia (BE), National Grid ESO (UK), REE 
(ES), REN (PT), RTE (FR), SONI (NI) and Terna (IT). 

—  Nordic  RCC  takes  care  of  Scandinavian  TSOs  Energinet  (DK),  Statnett  (NO)  and  Svenska  Kraftnät  (SE) 
including  Fingrid  in  Finland,  latter  three  being  part  of  Nordic  synchronous  area  and  Denmark  part  of 
Continental Europe.  

—  Western Balkan TSO’s namely EMS (RS), CGES (ME), NOS BIH (BA) and OST (AL) use services of SCC RSC, 

and on the far Southeast Turkish TSO TEIAŞ also benefits from SCC as a service user.  

—  Rest of the Southeast Europe is covered with SEleNe CC, the youngest RCC, which gathers ESO (BG), IPTO 
(GR/EL), Terna (IT) TSOs. The latter is also part of Coreso which is due to the different regional inclusion 
of which more will be shown later in the report. Since official RCC establishment, Transelectrica (RO) still 
benefits from SEleNe CC as a service user. 

—  TSCNET  involves  the  rest  of  the  mostly  Central  European  TSOs  such  as:  50  Hertz  (DE)  (also  part  of 
Coreso), Amprion (DE), APG (AT), Creos (LU), ČEPS (CZ), ELES (SI), HOPS (HR), MAVIR (HU), PSE (PL), SEPS 
(SK), Swissgrid (CH), TenneT (DE), TenneT (NL), TransnetBW (DE), Transelectrica (RO), and VUEN (AT). 

19 

 
 
Figure 10. RCC and RSC coverage map 

Baltic RCC (2016)
Coreso (2008)
Nordic RCC (2016)
SCC (2015)
SEleNe CC (2020)
TSCNET (2008)

NO

DK

NL

BE

LU

DE

FR

CH

SE

CZ

AT

SI

HR

FI

EE

LV

LT

BY

PL

SK

HU

RO

BA

RS

UA

MD

IT

ME XK

BG

AL

MK

GR

MT

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

TR

CY

NI

IE

UK

PT

ES

20 

4.1  System Operation Regions (SORs) 

Based on the ACER’s Decision on SO, Definition of System Operation Regions (No. 27 of Table 25. Annex), in 
accordance  with  the  Electricity  Regulation,  system  operation  regions  (SOR)  are  defined  taking  into  account 
grid topology, degree of interconnection and interdependency of the electricity system in terms of flows and 
the  size  of  the  region  covering  at  least  one  capacity  calculation  region  (CCR).  SORs  include  TSOs  that  have 
been  designated  or  assigned  with  responsibilities  which  are  relevant  for  system  operation,  such  as,  but  not 
limited to: calculation of cross-border capacities, assessment of needed remedial actions to ensure security of 
the  whole  system,  coordination  of  all  the  outages  to  ensure  security  of  supply  and  efficiency,  adequacy 
assessment and tasks related to the provision of system balancing (ACER, 05/2022). 

TSOs of a SOR participate in and use services of the Regional Coordination Centre (RCC) established in that 
region,  except  where  the  control  area  of  a  TSO  is  part  of  various  synchronous  areas  (Figure  4.)  TSO  may 
participate in two RCCs. For the Continental Europe synchronous area, where the activities of two RCCs may 
overlap in a SOR, the TSOs of that SOR shall decide to either designate a single RCC in that region to perform 
certain tasks or the two RCCs will carry out some or all of the tasks of regional relevance in the entire SOR on 
a rotational basis, while other tasks are carried out by a single designated RCC (Electricity Regulation, 2019c). 
As of 2022, there are five SORs in Europe (Figure 11.): 

1.  Baltic 

2.  Central Europe 

3.  Nordic 

4.  South East Europe (SEE) 

5.  South West Europe (SWE) 

21 

 
 
Figure 11. System Operation Regions (SORs) in Europe (EU) 

Baltic SOR
Central Europe SOR
Nordic SOR
South East Europe (SEE) SOR
South West Europe (SWE) SOR

SE

NO

DK

DE

NL

BE

LU

FR

CH

NI

IE

UK

PT

ES

FI

EE

LV

LT

BY

CZ

AT

SI

HR

BA

IT

PL

SK

HU

RO

BG

RS

ME XK

AL

MK

GR

MT

 Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

UA

MD

TR

CY

22 

4.2  Capacity Calculation Regions (CCRs)   

Box 5. Relevant definitions – CCRs 

(21)  ‘Capacity  calculation  region’  means  the  geographic  area  in  which  the  coordinated  capacity  calculation  is  applied 
(Electricity Regulation, 2019c); 

(65)  ‘Bidding  zone’  means  the  largest  geographical  area  within  which  market  participants  are  able  to  exchange  energy 
without capacity allocation (Electricity Regulation, 2019c);  

As defined in ACER’s Decision 04/2021 on Determination of Capacity Calculation Regions (No. 27 of Table 25. 
Annex), as of 2022 there are 8 capacity calculation regions (CCRs) in Europe and these are (Figure 12):  

1.  Baltic 

2.  Core3 

3.  GRIT 

4.  Hansa 

5. 

Italy North3 

6.  Nordic 

7.  South-East Europe (SEE) and  

8.  South-West Europe (SWE).  

All EU member states (MSs), and their respective Bidding Zones (BZs), are part of at least one CCR. Those that 
have  been  included  in  multiple  CCRs  are  mostly  due  to  geographical  position  (e.g.  France,  Denmark  and 
Romania) or economical-high capacity reasons (e.g. Italy). MSs that are part of three CCRs are: France (Core, 
Italy North and SWE), Poland (Baltic, Core and Hansa), and Sweden (Baltic, Hansa, Nordic); MSs that are part 
of  two  CCRs    are:  Austria  (Core  and  Italy  North),  Denmark  (Nordic  and  Hansa),  Finland  (Nordic  and  Baltic), 
Germany (Core and Hansa), Greece (SEE and GRIT), Italy (Italy North and GRIT), and The Netherlands (Core and 
Hansa), while all the rest are part of one single CCR.  

3 Based on their Decision No 04/2024, ACER has approved the amendments to the Core and Italy North CCRs. The Core and Italy North 
CCRs will be merged and form a new CCR called Central Europe. Initially, this merger will only apply to the day-ahead capacity calculation 
process. It will improve the coordination and efficiency of capacity calculation and allocation processes in continental Europe. For this to 
become operational, The TSOs have to submit the day-ahead flow-based capacity calculation methodology for the newly formed Central 
Europe CCR by January 2025. 

23 

 
 
 
                                                        
Figure 12. EU Member States divided in Capacity Calculation Regions (CCRs) 

Baltic CCR
Core CCR
Greece – Italy (GRIT) CCR
Hansa CCR
Italy North (IN) CCR
Nordic CCR
South East Europe (SEE) CCR
South West Europe (SWE) CCR
BZ/Country part of multiple CCRs 

NO

DK

DE

NL

BE

LU

FR

CH

SE

CZ

AT

SI

IT

NI

IE

UK

PT

ES

FI

EE

LV

LT

BY

PL

SK

HU

RO

BG

ME

AL

RS

XK

MK

GR

HR

BA

MT

UA

MD

TR

CY

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

24 

 
 
 
 
 
Related  to  the  market  participation,  BZs  in  Europe  are  mostly  defined  by  national  borders.  However,  the 
existing  European  electricity  target  model  requires  defining  bidding  zones  based  on  network  congestions. 
Some  MSs  are  divided  in  multiple  BZs  such  as  Italy  in  seven  (North,  Central  North,  Sardinia,  Central  South, 
South, Calabria and Sicily), Denmark in two and Sweden in four. Due to simplicity Germany and Luxembourg 
are  conjoined  into  one  BZ  DE/LU  (Figure  13.).  A  CCR  further  defines  the  set  of  bidding  zone  borders  (BZBs) 
among which the tasks of capacity calculation are coordinated by the TSOs. Figure 14 then consolidates all 
CCRs, BZs and BZBs and their division between MSs. 

Figure 13. Bidding Zones (BZs) in Europe and borders between Member States' BZs 

SE4

Bidding Zone (BZ)
Bidding Zone border (BZB)

SE1

NO4

SE2

NO3

NO5

NO1

NO2

SE3

DK1

SE4

DK2

IE (SEM)

GB

NL

BE

DE/LU

FR

CH

IT NORD

IT CNORD

PL

SK

HU

HR

BA

RS

CZ

AT

SI

FI

EE

LV

LT

MD

RO

PT

ES

IT SARD

IT CSUD

ME

XK

BG

IT SUD

AL

MK

GR

IT SICI

IT CALA

MT

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

25 

UA

TR

 
 
 
 
Figure 14. Capacity Calculation Regions (CCRs), Bidding Zones (BZ) and Bidding Zone Borders (BZBs) in Europe 

Baltic CCR
Core CCR
Greece – Italy (GRIT) CCR
Hansa CCR
Italy North (IN) CCR
Nordic CCR
South East Europe (SEE) CCR
South West Europe (SWE) CCR
Bidding Zone (BZ)
Bidding Zone border (BZB)
BZ part of multiple CCRs 

SE4

NO4

NO3

NO5

NO1

NO2

DE/LU

CH

IE (SEM)

GB

RO

BG

BA

RS

ME

XK

MK

AL

UA

MD

TR

MT

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

26 

 
 
 
 
 
 
4.3  Operational and market timeframes 

After  introducing  where  the  RCCs  have  been  performing  their  tasks,  before  giving  an  overview  on  all  RCC 
tasks, it is of utmost importance to introduce when of the tasks. All actors in the power transmission system 
operation – ENTSO-E, TSOs and RCCs – operate and perform tasks in multiple timeframes. However, most of 
the operational planning can be divided in three general types, long-, medium- and short-term, which consists 
of eight operational planning timeframes prior to the real-time (RT) operation (Figure 15): 

—  Long-term: 

1.  Ten-year-ahead (10YA) 

—  Medium-term: 

2.  Year-ahead (YA) 

3.  Six-months-ahead (6MA) 

—  Short-term: 

4.  Month-ahead (MA) 

5.  Week-ahead (WA) 

6.  Day-ahead (DA) 

7. 

Intraday (ID) 

8.  Close to real-time (C2RT) 

Figure 15. Operational planning timeframes 

10YA

YA

6MA

MA

WA

DA

ID

C2RT

RT

Long-term

Medium-term

Short-term

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

In order to understand which timeframe describes the considered interval, few definitions can be found in the 
Box 6 below. Time_period-ahead explains as the time_period prior to the calendar time_period of operation. 

Box 6. Relevant definitions – Operational Timeframes 

(92) ‘Week-ahead’ means the week prior to the calendar week of operation (SOGL Regulation, 2017a); 

(93) ‘Year-ahead’ means the year prior to the calendar year of operation (SOGL Regulation, 2017a); 

For example, if the adequacy of the system has to be calculated in the day-ahead timeframe, it means that 
the  planning  and  performing  of  the  task  will  occur  on  the  day  before  the  operational  day,  i.e.  today  for 
tomorrow. Same works for all other time periods. 

Related to the concept of electricity market timeframes an overview can be seen in Figure 16. In sequential 
order,  energy  can  be  traded  from  year(s)  before  the  delivery  (Forward  and  Future  Markets)  up  to  the  day 
before the actual delivery (Day-ahead market) and between the day-ahead market the delivery of electricity 
(Intraday  Markets).  While  in  the  day-ahead  market  energy  is  traded  one  day  before  real  time,  the  intraday 
market enables market participants to correct their nominations on the delivery day itself. 

Other  definitions  extracted  from  related  EU  legislative  acts  can  help  clarify  some  shorter-term  market 
timeframes, such as the day-ahead, intraday and close to real-time. 

Box 7. Relevant definitions – Market timeframes 

34.  ‘day-ahead  market  time-frame’  means  the  time-frame  of  the  electricity  market  until  the  day-ahead  market  gate 
closure time, where, for each market time unit, products are traded the day prior to delivery (CACM  Regulation); 

27 

 
 
 
  
37. ‘intraday market time-frame’ means the time-frame of the electricity market after intraday cross-zonal gate opening 
time and before intraday cross-zonal gate closure time, where for each market time unit, products are traded prior to the 
delivery of the traded products (CACM Regulation, 2015); 

(72) ‘Close to real-time’ means the time lapse of not more than 15 minutes between the last intraday gate closure and 
real-time (SOGL Regulation, 2017a); 

Figure 16. Overview of different timeframes of the wholesale and balancing markets 

Source: (Amprion) 

28 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5  Tasks of Regional Coordination Centres 

As  of  1  July  2022,  Regional  Coordination  Centres  (RCCs)  became  regulated  entities  having  to  progressively 
meet additional requirements to those already established for the Regional Security Coordinator (RSC), as set 
out  in  the  Electricity  Regulation.  One  of  the  keystones  of  becoming  an  RCC,  is  the  responsibility  to  fully 
implement and execute new tasks overtime (in an RSC so called ‘services’) in addition to five historical core 
tasks. The entry into force of the RCC does not imply the implementation of all new tasks by 1 July 2022, but 
an implementation schedule is foreseen for these additional tasks. In conclusion: 

—  Five historical core tasks: Coordinated Capacity Calculation, Coordinated Security Analysis, Common Grid 

Model, Outage Planning Coordination and Short-Term Adequacy Assessment. 

—  Regarding  the  new  (11)  tasks,  ENTSO-E  is  mandated  to  develop  a  proposal  for  each  of  these,  and  to 
submit  them  to  the  Agency  for  the  Cooperation  of  Energy  Regulators  (ACER).  As  of  November  2022, 
seven of them have been already submitted (2 of them in implementation stage), while 4 methodologies 
are still in development. The timeframe for the implementation of the new tasks will be set out in each of 
the approved proposals (Coreso, 2022). 

The  TSOs have to  provide RCCs with the information  necessary to carry out their tasks. On the other  hand, 
RCCs  have  to  provide  TSOs  of  the  SOR  with  all  the  information  necessary  to  implement  the  coordinated 
actions  and  recommendations  issued  by  them.  TSOs  have  to  develop  the  procedure  to  revise  and  adopt 
coordinated actions and recommendations made by RCCs, which have to adopted with certain exceptions and 
obligations based on Article 42 of Electricity Regulation. More on this can be found at the end of this chapter 
introduction.  

As defined in Article 37.1 [(a) to (p)] and Annex I [(1) to (16)] of the Electricity Regulation each RCC is carrying 
out,  at  least,  the  following  tasks  of  regional  relevance  in  the  entire  SOR  where  it  is  established,  set  out  in 
Table 5.  

No. 

Tasks of Regional Coordination 
Centres (RCCs) 

Table 5. List of RCC tasks 

Category 

Timeframe 

by 
operational 
activity 

Methodology 
development 
status 

Degree of 
implementation 

in an RCC 
process* 

1-a 

Coordinated capacity calculation (CCC) 

2-b 

Coordinated security analysis (CSA) 

3-c 

Creation of common grid models (CGM) 

4-d 

Supporting the TSOs in defence and 
restoration plans’ consistency 
assessment 

5-h 

Supporting the TSOs in the coordination 
of regional restoration 

CA 

OS 

OP 

OP 

OS 

6-i 

Post-operation and post-disturbances 
analysis and reporting 

Other 

DA and ID 

Developed 

DA and ID 

Developed 

YA to ID 

Developed 

High 

High 

High 

Upon 
submission 
from TSOs 

C2RT. 
Upon request 
from TSOs.  

Conditional. 
Upon request 
from TSOs. 

Developed 

Medium 

In development 

Unknown 

Developed 

Medium 

7-j 

Regional sizing of reserve capacity 

8-k 

Facilitating the regional procurement of 
balancing capacity 

9-e 

Short-term adequacy (STA) assessment 

Regional outage planning coordination 
(OPC) 

10-f 

11-l 

CA 

CA 

SA 

OP 

DA and/or ID 

In development 

Unknown 

DA and/or ID 

In development 

Unknown 

WA to DA 

Developed 

YA, (MA), WA 

Developed 

High 

High 

Supporting the TSOs in the inter-

Other 

Upon request 

Developed 

Unknown 

29 

 
 
transmission system operators 
settlements 

from TSOs 

12-g  Training and certification of RCC staff 

Other 

When needed 

Developed 

Medium 

13-
m 

Tasks related to identification of 
regional electricity crisis scenarios 

14-p 

Identification of needs for new 
transmission capacity and supporting 
the ten-year network development plan 
(TYNDP) 

15-o 

Calculation of maximum entry capacity 
for foreign capacity 

16-n 

Tasks related to the seasonal adequacy 
assessments 

OP 

OP 

CA 

SA 

Upon request 
from ENTSO-E.  
Every 4 years. 

Upon request 
from TSOs. 
Every 2 years. 

Upon request 
from TSOs 

Upon request 
from ENTSO-E.  
Two times per 
year. 

Developed 

Unknown 

In development 

Unknown 

Developed 

Unknown 

Developed 

Unknown 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

*status in June 2022  

Category by operational activity 

Timeframe 

OS – Operational Security 

YA – Year-ahead 

OP – Operational Planning 

MA – Month-ahead 

SA – System Adequacy 

WA – Week-ahead 

CA – Capacity Allocation 

DA – Day-ahead 

Other – miscellaneous 

ID – Intraday 

C2RT – Close to real-time 

The categorization mentioned in Chapter 1 was made based on the nature of the task and the type of service 
it  offers  (category  by  operational  activity,  JRC  source).  The  methodology  development  status  is  mentioned, 
where it can be seen that most of the tasks are already covered, meaning that the task is either already fully 
implemented into RCC business or is one step closer. This information, particularly on “new tasks”, was based 
on  the  update  provided  by  Nordic  RCC  and  ACER  during  the  5th  Regional  Coordination  Conference  on  18 
November  2022,  held  online  and  hosted  by  SCC  and  SEleNe  CC.  Note  that  the  column  ‘Degree  of 
implementation  in  an  RCC  process’  is  interpreted  with  the  status  in  June  2022  based  on  aforementioned 
conference presentations, and annual reports from Coreso and Nordic RCC, i.e. before RCCs officially entered 
into  force,  thus  it  does  not  possibly  correspond  to  the  current  status  of  business  processes  in  the  RCCs, 
including likely differences in the degree of implementation between different RCCs. It could happen that by 
now some RCCs have implemented some tasks in a more complete way while some other did not.4 

In the following Figure 17 a different overview of all RCC tasks depending on the timeframe in which they are 
to be performed is shown. Tasks are sorted into categories already mentioned with solid coloured tasks being 
ones that are obligatory and performed on a regular basis, thus lighter coloured ones are the tasks activated 
upon request from certain entity or when needed depending on the initiating event. 

4 In March 2024 ACER has published its first monitoring report on RCC’s reporting obligations for year 2022. In that report additional key 
performance indicators for each RCC, degree of implementation and respective tasks can be found, as reported by RCCs. 

30 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
n
o
i
t
a
c
o

l
l

A
y
t
i
c
a
p
a
C

l

a
n
o
i
t
a
r
e
p
O

y
t
i
r
u
c
e
S

i

g
n
n
n
a
P

l

l

a
n
o
i
t
a
r
e
p
O

m
e
t
s
y
S

y
c
a
u
q
e
d
A

r
e
h
t
O

Figure 17. Visual representation of RCC tasks 

(1-a) Coordinated capacity calculation (CCC)

(15-o) Entry capacity for 
foreign capacity

(7-j) Regional sizing 
of reserve capacity

(8-k) Regional 
procurement of 
balancing capacity

(2-b) Coordinated security 
analysis (CSA)

(5-h) Coordination 
of regional 
restoration

(3-c) Common grid models (CGM)

(4-d) Supporting in defence 
and restoration plans

(10-f) Regional outage planning 
coordination (OPC)

(13-m) Regional electricity 
crisis scenarios

(14-p) Supporting 
TYNDP

(9-e) Short-term 
adequacy (STA) 
assessment

(16-n) Seasonal 
adequacy 
assessments

(12-g) Training and certification of RCC staff

(6-i) Post-
event 
analysis 
(PEA)

(11-l) 
Supporting 
in the inter-
TSO 
settlements

10YA

YA

6MA

MA

WA

DA

ID

C2RT

RT

Long-term

Medium-term

Short-term

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

It  is  important  to  once  again  mention  that  RCCs,  in  performing  their  tasks  under  Union  law,  shall  act 
independently  of  individual  national  interests  and  independently  of  the  interests  of  transmission  system 
operators, as stated in Electricity Regulation’s Article 35 chapter 4.  

Based on Article 42 (1, 2 and 3) of the Electricity Regulation, the TSOs in a SOR shall develop a procedure for 
the adoption and revision of coordinated actions and recommendations issued by RCCs. Thus: 

—  RCCs  shall  issue  coordinated  actions  to  the  TSOs  in  respect  of  the  tasks  1-a  ‘Coordinated  Capacity 

Calculation’ and 2-b ‘Coordinated Security Analysis’ (Table 5). 

—  TSOs  shall  implement  the  coordinated  actions  except  where  the  implementation  of  the  coordinated 
actions would result in a  violation of the operational security limits defined by each TSO in accordance 
with  the  system  operation  guideline  adopted  on  the  basis  of  Article  18(5)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No 
714/2009.  

31 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
—  Where  a  TSO  decides  not  to  implement  a  coordinated  action  for  the  reasons  set  out  in  the  above 
paragraph, it shall transparently report the detailed reasons to the RCC and the TSOs of the SOR region 
without undue delay. In such cases, the RCC shall assess the impact of that decision on the other TSOs of 
the SOR and may propose a different set of coordinated actions subject to the TSO’s procedure set out in 
paragraph 1 of the Article.  

Furthermore: 

—  RCCs shall also issue recommendations to the TSOs in relation to all the other (or new advisory) tasks, 3 

to 16 (c to p), listed in Table 5. 

—  Where a TSO decides to deviate from a RCCs recommendation as referred to in paragraph 1 of the Article 
42, it shall submit a justification for its decision to RCCs and to the other TSOs of the SOR without undue 
delay. 

On the monitoring and reporting on which the RCCs are obliged, Article 46 of the Electricity Regulation states: 

Box 8. RCC’s monitoring and reporting 

1. The RCCs have to establish a process for the continuous monitoring where they would monitor at least: 

- their operational performance; 

-  the  coordinated  actions  and  recommendations  issued,  the  extent  to  which  the  coordinated  actions  and 
recommendations have been implemented by the TSOs and the outcome achieved; 

- the effectiveness and efficiency of each of the tasks for which they are responsible and, where applicable, 
the rotation of those tasks. 

2. RCCs shall account for their costs in a transparent manner and report them to ACER and to the regulatory 
authorities in the system operation region. 

3.  RCCs  shall  submit  an  annual  report  on  the  outcome  of  the  monitoring  provided  for  in  paragraph  1  and 
information on their performance to the ENTSO for Electricity, ACER, the regulatory authorities in the system 
operation region and the Electricity Coordination Group. 

4. RCCs shall report any shortcomings that they identify in the monitoring process under paragraph 1 to the 
ENTSO for Electricity, the regulatory authorities in the system operation region, ACER and the other competent 
authorities  of  Member  States  responsible  for  the  prevention  and  management  of  crisis  situations.  On  the 
basis of that report, the relevant regulatory authorities of the system operation region may propose measures 
to address the shortcomings to the RCCs. 

5.  Without  prejudice  to  the  need  to  protect  security  and  the  confidentiality  of  commercially  sensitive 
information, RCCs shall make public the reports referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4. 

In  the  next  subchapters  all  current  RCC  tasks  will  be  laid  out  into  more  details,  providing  additional 
information on objectives, legal framework and methodologies, but also for some of them visually describing 
an RCC business process in a simplified manner. 

32 

 
 
 
 
 
5.1  Coordinated capacity calculation (CCC) 

Box 9. Relevant definitions – Task (1) 

(65)  ‘Bidding  zone’  means  the  largest  geographical  area  within  which  market  participants  are  able  to  exchange  energy 
without capacity allocation (Electricity Regulation, 2019c); 

(66) ‘Capacity allocation’ means the attribution of cross-zonal capacity (Electricity Regulation, 2019c); 

(69) ‘critical network element’ or CNE means a network element either within a bidding zone  or between bidding zones 
taken  into  account  in  the  capacity  calculation  process,  limiting  the  amount  of  power  that  can  be  exchanged  (Electricity 
Regulation, 2019c); 

(70) ‘Cross-zonal capacity’ means the capability of the interconnected system to accommodate energy transfer between 
bidding zones (Electricity Regulation, 2019c); 

3.  ‘Capacity  calculation  region’  means  the  geographic  area  in  which  coordinated  capacity  calculation  is  applied  (CACM 
Regulation, 2015); 

5.  ‘Net  position’  means  the  netted  sum  of  electricity  exports  and  imports  for  each  market  time  unit  for  a  bidding  zone 
(CACM Regulation, 2015); 

6. ‘Allocation constraints’ means the constraints to be respected during capacity allocation to maintain the transmission 
system  within  operational  security  limits  and  have  not  been  translated  into  cross-zonal  capacity  or  that  are  needed  to 
increase the efficiency of capacity allocation (CACM Regulation, 2015); 

7.  ‘Operational  security  limits’  means  the  acceptable  operating  boundaries  for  secure  grid  operation  such  as  thermal 
limits, voltage limits, short-circuit current limits, frequency and dynamic stability limits (CACM Regulation, 2015); 

8. ‘Coordinated net transmission capacity (NTC) approach’ means the capacity calculation method based on the principle 
of assessing and defining ex ante a maximum energy exchange between adjacent bidding zones; (CACM Regulation, 2015; 
Electricity Regulation, 2019c); 

9. ‘Flow-based (FB) approach’ means a capacity calculation method in which energy exchanges between bidding zones are 
limited by power transfer distribution factors and available margins on critical network elements (CACM Regulation, 2015); 

11. ‘Coordinated capacity calculator’ or CCC means the entity or entities with the task of calculating transmission capacity, 
at regional level or above (CACM Regulation, 2015); 

12.  ‘Generation  shift  key’  or  GSK  means  a  method  of  translating  a  net  position  change  of  a  given  bidding  zone  into 
estimated specific injection increases or decreases in the common grid model (CACM Regulation, 2015); 

RCC task 

Category 

Table 6. Coordinated capacity calculation task summary 

(1-a) Coordinated Capacity Calculation (CCC) 

Capacity Allocation (CA) 

Contributing to 

Market Integration (MI), Security of Supply (SoS) 

Objective 

—  RCCs have to carry out the coordinated calculation of cross-zonal capacities that 

can be allocated to the day-ahead and intraday markets. 

—  RCC  is  coordinated  capacity  calculator  and  have  to  ensure  an  efficient 
congestion management in accordance with the general principles of congestion 
management. 

—  When calculating cross-zonal capacities RCCs have to: 

●  use generation shift keys (GSKs) to calculate the impact of changes in 

bidding zone net positions and of flows on direct current lines; 

● 

ignore those critical network elements (CNEs) that are not significantly 
influenced by the changes in bidding zone net positions according to the 
CCR methodologies; 

●  ensure  that  all  sets  of  bidding  zone  net  positions  and  flows  on  direct 
current  lines  not  exceeding  cross-zonal  capacity  comply  with  reliability 
margins and operational security limits and take into account previously 

33 

 
 
allocated cross-zonal capacity; 

—  CCC method differs per capacity calculation regions (CCRs), for example, in SWE 
CCR coordinated net transmission capacity (NTC) approach is being used, while in 
Core CCR flow-based (FB) approach is applied, therefore CCC results will provide 
NTCs and/or FB domains, respectively (Figure 18). 

—  RCCs shall calculate cross-zonal capacities respecting operational security limits 
using data  from transmission system operators including data on the technical 
availability of remedial actions, not including load shedding.  

—  Where  RCCs  conclude  that  those  available  remedial  actions  in  the  capacity 
calculation  region  or  between  capacity  calculation  regions  are  not  sufficient  to 
reach the linear trajectory or the minimum levels of capacities while respecting 
operational  security  limits,  they  may,  as  a  measure  of  last  resort,  set  out 
coordinated actions reducing the cross-zonal capacities accordingly.  

—  TSOs shall implement those coordinated actions. 

—  TSOs  may  deviate  from  coordinated  actions  in  respect  of  coordinated  capacity 
calculation (and coordinated security analysis) only where the implementation of 
the  coordinated  actions  would  result  in  a  violation  of  the  operational  security 
limits  defined  by  each  transmission  system  operator  in  accordance  with  the 
system operation guideline (Electricity Regulation, 2019c). 

—  Where a TSO decides not to implement a coordinated action for the reasons set 
out by the RCCs it shall transparently report the detailed reasons to the RCC and 
the TSOs of the SOR without undue delay.  

—  In such cases, the RCC shall assess the impact of that decision on the other TSOs 
of the SOR and may propose a different set of coordinated actions subject to the 
TSOs  procedure  set  out  in  paragraph  1  of  Article  42  of  Electricity  Regulation, 
2019c. 

—  TSOs shall not limit the volume of interconnection capacity to be made available 
to market participants as a means of solving congestion inside their own bidding 
zone  or  as  a  means  of  managing  flows  resulting  from  transactions  internal  to 
bidding  zones.  Except  for  certain  derogations,  the  following  minimum  levels  of 
available capacity for cross-zonal trade (Electricity Regulation, 2019c): 

o 

o 

(a) for borders using a coordinated net transmission capacity approach, 
the  minimum  capacity  shall  be  70  %  of  the  transmission  capacity 
respecting  operational  security  limits  after  deduction  of  contingencies, 
in  accordance  with  the  capacity  allocation  and 
as  determined 
congestion management guideline adopted on the basis of Article 18(5) 
of Regulation (EC) No 714/2009; 

(b)  for  borders  using  a  flow-based  approach,  the  minimum  capacity 
shall be a margin set in the capacity calculation process as available for 
flows  induced  by  cross-zonal  exchange.  The  margin  shall  be  70  %  of 
the capacity respecting operational security limits of internal and cross-
zonal  critical  network  elements,  taking  into  account  contingencies,  as 
determined  in  accordance  with  the  capacity  allocation  and  congestion 
management  guideline  adopted  on  the  basis  of  Article  18(5)  of 
Regulation (EC) No 714/2009. 

Timeframe 

The  process  starts  in  2  days-ahead  (2DA)  for  Day-ahead  (DA)  and  Intraday  (ID) 
timeframes. 

Legal framework 

—  Article 37(1)(a) and Annex I (1) of the Electricity Regulation 2019/943 

—  Section 4, Article 29 of the CACM Regulation 2015/1222 

—  Article 18(5) of Regulation (EU) No 714/2009 

34 

 
 
Methodology and 
business process 
related documents 

—  ACER,  2021:  Decision  on  the  Determination  of  Capacity  Calculation  Regions 

(CCRs) (No. 21 of Table 25. Annex) 

—  ENTSO-E: CCR Methodologies per region (No. 38 of Table 25. Annex) 

—  ENTSO-E, 2019: CCC implementation guide (No. 32 of Table 25. Annex) 

—  ENTSO-E, 2021: CACM list of information to ACER implementation guide (No. 33 

of Table 25. Annex) 

Link with other tasks 

Task (3) – Creation of Common Grid Model (CGM) – CCC will be performed based on 
CGM. 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

Figure 18. Coordinated capacity calculation process example 

•Sending 
inputs:
•IGM
•CNE
•CNEC
•GSK
•EC

TSO

RCC

•Quality check
•Merging
(IGMs  CGM)
•Optimizing
(RAO)
•Computing
(NTCs or FB 
domain)

•Validation
NTCs or 
FB domain

TSO

RCC

•Compilation
of validated 
NTCs or FB 
domain

•Allocation of 
capacity
•Market 
Coupling
•Remaining 

capacity can 
be used for 
balancing and 
emergency 
mechanisms

After

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

35 

 
 
 
5.2  Coordinated security analysis (CSA) 

Box 10. Relevant definitions – Task (2) 

 (26)  ‘Redispatching’  means  a  measure,  including  curtailment,  that  is  activated  by  one  or  more  transmission  system 
operators  or  distribution  system  operators  by  altering  the generation,  load pattern,  or  both,  in  order  to  change  physical 
flows  in  the  electricity  system  and  relieve  a  physical  congestion  or  otherwise  ensure  system  security  (Electricity 
Regulation, 2019c); 

(27) ‘Countertrading’ means a cross-zonal exchange initiated by system operators between two bidding zones to relieve 
physical congestion (Electricity Regulation, 2019c); 

(50)  ‘Operational  security  analysis’  means  the  entire  scope  of  the  computer  based,  manual  and  automatic  activities 
performed  in  order  to  assess  the  operational security  of  the  transmission  system  and  to  evaluate  the  remedial actions 
needed to maintain operational security (Electricity Regulation, 2019c); 

(67) ‘Control area’ means a coherent part of the interconnected system, operated by a single system operator and shall 
include connected physical loads and/or generation units if any (Electricity Regulation, 2019c); 

(2) ‘Constraint’ means a situation in which there is a need to prepare and activate a remedial action in order to respect 
operational security limits (SOGL Regulation, 2017a); 

7.  ‘Operational  security  limits’  means  the  acceptable  operating  boundaries  for  secure  grid  operation  such  as  thermal 
limits, voltage limits, short-circuit current limits, frequency and dynamic stability limits (CACM Regulation, 2015); 

10.  ‘Contingency’  means  the  identified  and  possible  or  already  occurred  fault  of  an  element,  including  not  only  the 
transmission  system  elements,  but  also  significant  grid  users  and  distribution  network  elements  if  relevant  for  the 
transmission system operational security (CACM Regulation, 2015); 

13. ‘Remedial action’ or RA means any measure applied by a TSO or several TSOs, manually or automatically, in order to 
maintain operational security (CACM Regulation, 2015); 

(4) ‘Contingency list’ means the list of contingencies to be simulated in order to test the compliance with the operational 
security limits (SOGL Regulation, 2017a); 

(14) ‘(N-1) criterion’ means the rule according to which the elements remaining in operation within a TSO's control area 
after  occurrence  of  a  contingency  are  capable  of  accommodating  the  new  operational  situation  without  violating 
operational security limits (SOGL Regulation, 2017a); 

(15) ‘(N-1) situation’ means the situation in the transmission system in which one contingency from the contingency list 
occurred (SOGL Regulation, 2017a); 

(27)  ‘Contingency  analysis’  means  a  computer  based  simulation  of  contingencies  from  the  contingency  list  (SOGL 
Regulation, 2017a); 

— 

‘Total Transfer/Transmission Capacity’ or ‘TTC’ is the maximum transmission of active power in accordance with the 
system security criteria which is permitted in transmission cross-sections between the subsystems/areas or individual 
installations (Nord Pool, 2020). 

— 

‘Transmission  Reliability  Margin’  or  ‘TRM’  is  a  security  margin  that  copes  with  uncertainties  on  the  computed  TTC 
values arising from: 

a)  Unintended deviations of physical flows during operations due to physical functioning of load-frequency regulation, 

b)  Emergency exchanges between TSOs to cope with unexpected unbalanced situations in real-time, 

c) 

— 

Inaccuracies, e.g. in data collection and measurements (Nord Pool, 2020). 

 ‘Net Transfer/Transmission Capacity’ or ‘NTC’ is the maximum total exchange program between two adjacent bidding 
zones  complying  with  security  standards,  and  taking  into  account  the  technical  uncertainties  on  future  network 
conditions (Nord Pool, 2020). 

𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 = 𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 − 𝑁𝑁𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇

36 

 
 
 
 
 
RCC task 

Category 

Table 7. Coordinated security analysis task summary 

(2-b) Coordinated security analysis (CSA) 

Operational Security (OS) 

Contributing to 

Security of Supply (SoS) 

Objective 

—  RCCs have to carry out a CSA aiming to ensure secure system operation. 

—  N-1  /  N-2  contingency  analysis  are  performed  for  designated  contingency 

list provided by the TSOs. 

—  If  the  possible  constraint  is  detected,  RCCs  will  propose  remedial  actions 

taking into account effectiveness and economic efficiency.  

—  RCCs will share the results of the CSA with at least the TSOs in the SOR. 

—  RCCs  shall  issue  coordinated  actions  to  the  TSOs  in  respect  of  the 

coordinated security analysis task.  

—  TSOs  shall 

implement 

the  coordinated  actions  except  where 

the 
implementation of the coordinated actions would result in a violation of the 
operational  security  limits  defined  by  each  TSO  in  accordance  with  the 
system  operation  guideline  adopted  on  the  basis  of  Article  18(5)  of 
Regulation (EC) No 714/2009 (Electricity Regulation, 2019c). 

—  Where a TSO decides not to implement a coordinated action for the reasons 
set out by the RCCs it shall transparently report the detailed reasons to the 
RCC and the TSOs of the SOR without undue delay.  

—  In such cases, the RCC shall assess the impact of that decision on the other 
TSOs  of  the  SOR  and  may  propose  a  different  set  of  coordinated  actions 
subject  to  the  TSOs  procedure  set  out  in  paragraph  1  of  Article  42  of 
Electricity Regulation, 2019c. 

Timeframe 

All operational timeframes between year-ahead and intraday (YA, WA*, DA, and 
ID). 

Legal framework 

—  Article 37(1)(b) and Annex I (2) of the Electricity Regulation 2019/943  

Methodology and 
business process 
related documents 

—  Article 75 of SOGL Regulation (EU) 2017/1485 

—  Article 18(5) of Regulation (EU) No 714/2009 

—  ACER,  2019:  Decision  on/  and  Methodology  for  coordinating  operational 

security analysis (CSAM) (Annex I and II) (No. 11 of Table 25. Annex) 

—  ACER,  2021:  Decision  on/  and  the  Amendment  of  the  Methodology  for 
coordinating operational security analysis (Annex I and Ia) (No. 22 of Table 
25. Annex) 

—  ENTSO-E,  2018:  All  TSOs’  proposal  for  a  methodology  for  coordinating 

operational security analysis (No. 31 of Table 25. Annex) 

—  ACER,  2020:  Decision  on/  and  Methodology  for  coordinated  redispatching 
and countertrading for the Core CCR (RDCT Methodology – Annex I to II) (No. 
19 of Table 25. Annex) 

—  ENTSO-E,  2022:  CSA  Data  Exchange  Specification  (No.  40  of  Table  25. 

Annex) 

Link with other tasks 

Task  (3)  –  Creation  of  Common  Grid  Model  (CGM)  –  CSA  shall  be  performed 
using the CGMs. 

37 

 
 
Task (10) – Outage planning coordination 

*Week-ahead individual and common grid models: Where two or more TSOs consider it necessary, they shall determine 
the most representative scenarios for coordinating the operational security analysis of their transmission system for the 
week-ahead time-frame and shall develop a methodology for merging the individual grid models. 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

Figure 19. Coordinated security analysis process example 

Input data and 
quality check

IGMs merging

CGM creation

Security 
analysis

Remedial 
action 
optimization

Remedial 
action 
coordination

Final 
validation

•IGMs
•List of monitored 

elements

•Contingency list
•RA list

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

As required by Article 33 of the SOGL Regulation, each TSO has to establish its own contingency list, including 
internal and external  contingencies of its observability area. This list  will be  used to  assess whether any of 
those  contingencies  endanger  the  operational  security  limits  of  the  TSOs  control  area.  This  contingency  list 
has to include both ordinary and exceptional contingencies as shown in the Table 8. below. 

Table 8. Classification of contingencies 

Loss of a single line / cable; 

Loss of a single transformer; 

Loss of a single phase-shifting transformer (PST); 

Ordinary contingencies 
(N-1) 

Loss of a single voltage compensation device; 

Loss of a single component of a HVDC system such as a line or a cable or a single 
HVDC converter unit; 

Exceptional 
contingencies 
(Dependent N-2, N-k) 

Loss of a single power generation unit; 

Loss of a single demand facility. 

Loss of network elements having common fault mode, meaning that a single fault 
(such as a fault on a busbar, HVDC grounding system, circuit breaker, 
measurement transformer etc.) will lead to the loss of more than one network 
element; 

Loss of overhead lines built on same tower; 

Loss of underground cables built in same trench; 

Loss of grid users having common process mode, meaning that the total or partial 

38 

 
 
 
sudden loss of one grid user will lead to the total or partial loss of the others (for 
example: Combined cycle units etc.); 

Loss of network elements/users simultaneously disconnected as a result of the 
operation of a Special Protection Scheme; 

Loss of multiple generation units (including solar and wind farms) disconnected 
because of a voltage drop on the network or system frequency deviation. 

Loss of two or more independent lines; 

Loss of two or more independent cables; 

Loss of two or more independent transformers or phase shifter transformers; 

Loss of two or more independent grid users (power generating unit or demand 
facility); 

Loss of two or more independent voltage compensation devices; 

Loss of two or more independent busbars; 

Loss of two or more independent components of a HVDC system such as lines, 
cables or HVDC converter units. 

Source: (ACER, 07/2019) 

Out-of-range 
contingencies 
(Independent N-2, N-k) 

To resolve specific contingencies, remedial actions (RAs) can be taken by the TSOs which will depend on the 
type of the contingency, duration, location, effect, automatism, environmental conditions, etc. Each TSO will be 
providing a list of RAs, of which most of them can be divided in two main categories – costly and non-costly 
remedial  actions.  Depending  on  the  time  of  usage  of  the  RA,  some  RAs  can  be  performed  as  a  preventive 
measure, before the contingency happens so that the impact of the event is mitigated or lessened, or the RA 
will  be  taken  after  the  occurrence  of  the  event,  so  called  in  curative,  to  correct  the  violations  that  have 
occurred. Some examples of TSOs RAs are provided below in the Table 9. 

Table 9. Examples of TSOs remedial actions 

Topological measure impacting the impedance of the grid – manual or 
automatic: 

-  Opening or closing of a line, cable, transformer, busbar coupler. 

- 

- 

Switching of a network element from one busbar to another. 

Any other change in the topology of the grid. 

Modification of the tap position of a phase shifter transformer (PST) – manual 

or automatic: 

-  Decreasing/ increasing power flow on the line of the same voltage 

level 

-  Decreasing/ increasing power flow between two different voltage 

levels (e.g. 380 kV to 220 kV) 

Grid 

Non-costly 
remedial 
actions 

Cross-
border 
capacity 

Modification of the set point on HVDC system (can be costly) 

39 

 
 
Redispatching: 

- 

- 

Changing the output of generators (dedicated 
contracts with producers) 

Rescheduling of the generation mix 

In a TSOs control 
area 

Optimized use of the pump storage and hydro generation 

Restart of the mothballed generating units 

Purchasing/ activation of balancing energy 

Use of strategic reserve or peak load reserve 

TSO-TSO dedicated contracts to change generation in their 
control area 

Shared reserves or mutual emergency assistance service 
(MEAS) contracts 

Outside of TSOs 
control area 

Countertrading: 

- 

Changing the net position / commercial cross-zonal exchanges 
between two bidding zones to relieve physical congestion 

Changing import/ export cross-border capacities 

Modification of set point on HVDC system (can be non-costly) 

Generation 

Costly 
remedial 
actions 

Cross-
border 
capacity 

Disconnecting interruptible load 

Load 

Use of pump storage units 

Load shedding 

Cancellation or postponement of planned outages: 

Grid 

-  Generating units 

- 

- 

Lines 

Transformers 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

In order to identify whether a remedial action (RA) is cross-border relevant i.e. affects another TSO(s), TSOs 
have  to  define  which  grid  elements  are  cross-border  relevant  network  elements  (XNEs).  These  elements 
should  be all critical network elements (CNEs) and network elements above the  voltage level predefined  by 
TSOs, except for those elements for  which all TSOs in a  CCR agree that they are not  cross-border relevant. 
TSOs and RCCs will use quantitative and qualitative analysis in order to detect possible cross-border influence.  

In  case  of  quantitative  approach,  the  cross-border  relevance  of  RAs  will  be  assessed  with  the  RA  influence 
factor.  The  RA  influence  factor  is  calculated  for  at  least  each  XNE  and  each  contingency  –  XNEC  –  as  a 
simulated  flow  deviation  on  a  XNEC  resulting  from  simulated  application  of  a  RA,  normalised  by  the 
permanent  load  of  the  associated  XNE.  For  the  quantitative  approach,  at  least  those  RAs  for  which  the  RA 
influence factors for at least one XNEC is higher than a threshold, defining a significant cross-border impact 
shall be considered as cross-border relevant. This threshold shall be equal to 5% unless a different threshold 
(ACER, 07/2019). 

40 

 
 
5.3  Creation of common grid models (CGM) 

Box 11. Relevant definitions – Task (3) 

1. ‘individual  grid  model’  or  IGM  means  a  data  set  describing  power  system  characteristics  (generation,  load  and  grid
topology) and related rules to change these characteristics during capacity calculation, prepared by the responsible TSOs,
to be merged with other individual grid model components in order to create the common grid model (CACM Regulation,
2015);

2.
‘common  grid  model’  or  CGM  means  a  Union-wide  data  set  agreed  between  various  TSOs  describing  the  main
characteristic  of  the  power  system  (generation,  loads  and  grid  topology)  and  rules  for  changing  these  characteristics
during the capacity calculation process (CACM Regulation, 2015);

RCC Task 

Category 

Table 10. Creation of common grid models task summary 

(3-c) Creation of common grid models (CGM) 

Operational Planning (OP) 

Contributing to 

Security of Supply (SoS), Market Integration (MI) 

Objective 

—  RCCs  have  processes  and  possess  tools  to  create  common  grid  models 

(CGMs), based on individual grid models (IGMs) prepared by the TSOs. 

—  The  model datasets will  correspond to the operational  planning timeframe 

(Figure 20): 

2-days-ahead Congestion Forecast (D2CF) file(s)

o
o Day-ahead Congestion Forecast (DACF) file(s)
Intraday Congestion Forecast (IDCF) file(s)

o

Snapshot (SN) file(s)

o

—  TSOs can appoint one RCC to build the EU-wide CGM. 

—  CGMs  are  available  to  all  RCCs,  TSOs,  and  ENTSO-E  and,  upon  request,  to 

ACER. 

Timeframe 

All  operational  planning  timeframe  between  year-ahead  and  intraday  (YA,  WA, 
DA, and ID). 

Legal framework 

—  Article 37(1)(c) and Annex I (3) of the Electricity Regulation 2019/943 

—  Title 1 of Part III and Article 70 of SOGL Regulation 2017/1485 

—  Section 2 (Chapter 1, Title II) and Article 17 of CACM Regulation 2015/1222 

—  Section 3 of FCA Regulation 2016/1719 

—  Article 18(5) of Regulation (EU) No 714/2009 

Methodology and 
business process 
related documents 

—  ENTSO-E, 2018:  All TSOs’ proposal for a common  grid model methodology 

(No. 30 of Table 25. Annex) 

—  ENTSO-E,  2021:  CGMA  data  exchange  implementation  guide  (No.  36  of 

Relevant standards 
and data formats 

Table 25. Annex) 

UCTE data exchange format (Link) 

IEC 61970-600-1:2021: Common Grid Model Exchange Standard (CGMES) (Link) 

IT environments and 
tools 

ENTSO-E IT platforms: 

41 

—  CGMES Library (Link) 

—  Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Library – (Link) 

—  Communication and Connectivity Service Platform (ECCoSP) – (Link) 

—  Operational Planning Data Environment (OPDE) Platform 

The Common Grid  Model (CGM)  Go-Live is  putting in  place an operational CGM 
business  process  for  mandated  timeframes  for  TSOs  and  RCCs  using  the 
Physical  Communication  Network  (PCN),  ENTSO-E’s  Operational  Planning  Data 
including  ENTSO-E’s  Communication  and 
Environment 
Connectivity  Service  Platform  (ECCoSP),  and  relevant  business  applications  for 
secure pan-European data exchange,  compliant with security requirements and 
data quality standards (ENTSO-E, 2021c). 

(OPDE)  Platform, 

Link with other tasks 

CGMs include relevant data for efficient operational planning in tasks: 

Task (1) – Coordinated capacity calculation 

Task (2) – Coordinated security analysis 

Task (9) – Short-term adequacy assessment 

Task (10) – Outage Planning Coordination 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

Figure 20. Creation of common grid model process example 

OPDE Platform

Merging
process

• TSO1 IGM
• TSO2 IGM
• ...
• TSOX IGM

CGM

• D2CF
• DACF
• IDCF
• SN

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

42 

 
 
 
 
 
 
5.4  Supporting TSOs in defence and restoration plans’ consistency assessment 

Box 12. Relevant definitions – Task (4) 

(5) ‘Restoration plan’ means all technical and organisational measures necessary for the restoration of the system back to 
normal state (EER Regulation, 2017c); 

(22)  ‘Blackout  state’  means  the  system  state  in  which  the  operation  of  part  or  all  of  the  transmission  system  is 
terminated (SOGL Regulation, 2017a): 

(37)  ‘Emergency  state’  means  the  system  state  in  which  one  or  more  operational  security  limits  are  violated  (SOGL 
Regulation, 2017a); 

(38) ‘Restoration state’ means the system state in which the objective of all activities in the transmission system is to re-
establish the system operation and maintain operational security after the blackout state or the emergency state (SOGL 
Regulation, 2017a); 

(63) ‘System defence plan’ means the technical and organisational measures to be undertaken to prevent the propagation 
or deterioration of a disturbance in the transmission system, in order to avoid a wide area state disturbance and blackout 
state (SOGL Regulation, 2017a); 

Table 11. Supporting the TSOs in defence and restoration plans’ consistency assessment task summary 

RCC Task 

(4-d) Supporting the TSOs in defence and restoration plans’ consistency 
assessment 

Category 

Operational Planning (OP) 

Contributing to 

Security of Supply (SoS) 

Objective 

—  RCCs  shall  support  TSOs  in  the  SOR  in  carrying  out  the  consistency 

assessment of TSOs’ defence and restoration plans. 

—  All  TSOs  shall  agree  on  a  threshold  above  which  the  impact  of  remedial 
actions  of  one  or  more  TSOs  is  considered  significant  for  other  TSOs 
synchronously  or  non-synchronously  interconnected,  in  the  emergency, 
blackout or restoration states. 

—  In providing support to the TSOs, the RCC shall: 

Identify potential incompatibilities; 

● 
●  Propose mitigation actions. 

—  TSOs shall assess and take into account the proposed mitigation actions. 

Timeframe 

Upon submission of the measures from TSOs.  

Since  18  December  2018,  and  within  three  months  after  the  submission,  the 
technical report from RSCs (now RCCs) have had to be delivered to the relevant 
TSOs. TSOs have to then provide the report to the relevant NRAs and ENTSO-E 
(Table 12). 

Legal framework 

—  Article 37(1)(d) and Annex I (4) of the Electricity Regulation 2019/943 

—  Article  6  and  procedures  set  out  in  the  Article  11,  Article  23,  Article  50  of 

the EER Regulation 2017/2196 

—  SOGL Regulation 2017/1485 

—  Article 32 of the ACER Regulation 2019/942 

Methodology and 
business process 
related documents 

—  ENTSO-E  Library  -  Emergency  &  Restoration  National  Implementation  (No. 

43 of Table 25. Annex) 

—  ENTSO-E RSC Coordination Template – Link 

—  ACER,  2021:  Implementation  Monitoring  Report  of  the  Network  Code  on 

43 

 
 
Emergency and Restoration (No. 42 of Table 25. Annex)  

Link with other tasks 

Task (5) – Supporting the TSOs in the coordination of regional restoration 

Task  (6)  –  Post-operation  and  post-disturbances  analysis  and  reporting 
(threshold) 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

Table 12. Process of regional coordination, in accordance with Article 6 of ERR Regulation 2017/2196 

Step 

When 

By 

To / With 

Legal basis 

1 – Submission of 
the measures 

By 18 December 
2018 

2 – Drafting of a 
technical report 

Within three 
months after the 
submission 

3 – First report 
from RCCs to the 
TSOs 

Without delay, after 
the report is 
completed 

4 – First report 
from TSOs to 
NRAs 

Without delay, after 
the report is 
received 

Each TSO 

To RCCs 

Article 6(3) 

RCCs 

RCCs 

With the assistance 
of relevant TSOs 

Article 6(3) 

To the relevant 
TSOs 

Article 6(4) 

Each TSO 

To the relevant NRA 
and ETNSO-E 

Article 6(4) 

Source: ACER’s Implementation Monitoring Report of the Network Code on Emergency and Restoration, 2021. 

44 

 
 
 
 
 
5.5  Supporting the TSOs in the coordination of regional restoration 

Box 13. Relevant definitions – Task (5) 

(9) ‘Resynchronisation’ means synchronising and connecting again two synchronised regions at the resynchronisation point 
(EER Regulation, 2017c); 

(10)  ‘Frequency  leader’  means  the  TSO  appointed  and  responsible  for  managing  the  system  frequency  within  a 
synchronised  region  or  a  synchronous  area  in  order  to  restore  system  frequency  back  to  the  nominal  frequency  (EER 
Regulation, 2017c); 

(12) ‘Resynchronisation leader’ means the TSO appointed and responsible for the resynchronisation of two synchronised 
regions (EER Regulation, 2017c); 

Table 13. Supporting the TSOs in the coordination of regional restoration task summary 

(5-h) Supporting the TSOs in the coordination of regional restoration 

Operational Security (OS) 

RCC Task 

Category 

Contributing to 

Security of Supply (SoS) 

Objective 

—  Each  relevant  RCC  shall  support  TSOs  appointed  as  frequency  leaders  and 
the resynchronisation leaders to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of 
system restoration.  

—  The  TSOs  in  the  SOR  shall  establish  the  role  of  the  RCC  relating  to  the 

support to the coordination and optimisation of regional restoration. 

—  TSOs may request assistance from RCCs if their system is in a blackout or 

restoration state. 

—  RCCs shall be equipped with the close to real-time supervisory control and 
data  acquisition  systems  with  the  observability  defined  by  applying  the 
threshold referred to in Task (4) under Objective. 

Timeframe 

C2RT. Upon request from TSOs. 

Legal framework 

—  Article 37(1)(h) and Annex I (5) of the Electricity Regulation 2019/943. 

Methodology and 
business process 
related documents 

—  Chapter III of EER Regulation 2017/2196 

—  SOGL Regulation 2017/1485 

—  Methodology in development 

—  ENTSO-E  Library  -  Emergency  &  Restoration  National  Implementation  (No. 

43 of Table 25. Annex)  

—  ACER,  2021:  Implementation  Monitoring  Report  of  the  Network  Code  on 

Emergency and Restoration (No. 42 of Table 25. Annex) 

Link with other tasks 

Task  (4)  –  Supporting  the  TSOs  in  defence  and  restoration  plans’  consistency 
assessment 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

45 

 
 
 
 
 
5.6  Post-operation and post-disturbances analysis and reporting 

Table 14. Post-operation and post-disturbances analysis and reporting task summary 

RCC Task 

Category 

(6-i) Post-operation and post-disturbances analysis and reporting 

Other 

Contributing to 

Security of Supply (SoS), Innovation (I) 

Objective 

—  RCCs  shall  investigate  and  prepare  a  report  on  any  incident  above  the 

threshold referred to in Task (4) under Objective.  

—  The  regulatory  authorities  in  the  SOR  and  ACER  may  be  involved  in  the 

investigation upon their request.  

—  RCCs  shall  publish  report,  upon  which  ACER  may  issue  recommendations 

aiming to prevent similar incidents in future. 

Timeframe 

Conditional activation based on incidents and/ or upon request. 

Legal framework 

—  Article 37(1)(i) and Annex I (6) of the Electricity Regulation 2019/943. 

Methodology 
business 
related documents 

and 
process 

—  ACER,  2022:  Decision  on/  and  Methodology  on  the  Regional  Coordination 
Centre  Post-Operation  and  Post-Disturbances  Analysis  and  Reporting 
Methodology (No. 26 of Table 25. Annex) 

Link with other tasks 

Task  (4)  –  Supporting  the  TSOs  in  defence  and  restoration  plans’  consistency 
assessment (threshold) 

All other tasks if and when requested. 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

46 

 
 
 
 
 
5.7  Regional sizing of reserve capacity 

Box 14. Relevant definitions – Task (7) 

 (6)  ‘Frequency  containment  reserves’  or  ‘FCR’  means  the  active  power  reserves  available  to  contain  system  frequency 
after the occurrence of an imbalance (SOGL Regulation, 2017a); 

(7) ‘Frequency restoration reserves’ or ‘FRR’  means the active power reserves available to restore system frequency to 
the nominal frequency and, for a synchronous area consisting of more than one LFC area, to restore power balance to the 
scheduled value (SOGL Regulation, 2017a); 

(8) ‘Replacement reserves’ or ‘RR’  means the active power reserves available to restore or support the required level of 
FRR to be prepared for additional system imbalances, including generation reserves (SOGL Regulation, 2017a); 

(19)  ‘Reserve  capacity’  means  the  amount  of  FCR,  FRR  or  RR  that  needs  to  be  available  to  the  transmission  system 
operator (Electricity Regulation, 2019c); 

Table 15. Regional sizing of reserve capacity task summary 

RCC Task 

Category 

(7-j) Regional sizing of reserve capacity 

Capacity Allocation (CA) 

Contributing to 

Security of Supply (SoS), Market Integration (MI) 

Objective 

RCCs  shall  calculate  the  reserve  capacity  requirements  for  the  SOR.  The 
determination of reserve capacity requirements shall: 

—  Pursue  the  general  objective  to  maintain  operational  security  in  the  most 

cost effective manner; 

—  Be performed at the day-ahead or intraday timeframe, or both; 

—  Calculate  the  overall  amount  of  required  reserve  capacity  for  the  system 

operation region; 

—  Determine minimum reserve capacity requirements for each type of reserve 

capacity (FCR, aFRR, mFRR, RR) (Figure 21 and Figure 22); 

—  Take into account possible substitutions between different types of reserve 

capacity with the aim to minimise the costs of procurement; 

—  Set  out  the  necessary  requirements  for  the  geographical  distribution  of 

required reserve capacity, if any. 

Timeframe 

Day-ahead and/or intraday (DA and/or ID) 

Legal framework 

—  Article 37(1)(j) and Annex I (7) of the Electricity Regulation 2019/943 

—  Title 5, 6 and 7 of the SOGL Regulation 2017/1485  

Methodology and 
business process 
related documents 

—  Methodology  in  development.  ENTSO-E  proposal  for  the  RCC  task  ‘regional 

sizing of reserve capacity’ (No. 48 of Table 25. Annex) 

—  ENTSO-E: aFRR – Platform for the International Coordination of Automated 

Frequency Restoration and Stable System Operation (PICASSO) (Link) 

—  ENTSO-E: RR – The Trans European Replacement Reserves Exchange (TERRE) 

project (Link) 

—  ENTSO-E:  mFRR  –  Manually  Activated  Reserves  Initiative  (MARI)  Project/ 

Platform (Link) 

—  ENTSO-E: Frequency Containment Reserves (FCR) project (Link) 

47 

 
 
Link with other tasks 

Task (8) – Regional procurement of balancing capacity 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

Figure 21. Balancing services according to the system envisaged by ENTSO-E 

Source: (Next Kraftwerke, b) 

Figure 22. A frequency drop and the reserve activation structure 

Source: Elia and TenneT, 2014 

48 

 
 
 
 
 
5.8  Facilitating the regional procurement of balancing capacity 

Box 15. Relevant definitions – Task (8) 

(1)  ‘Balancing’  means  all  actions  and  processes,  on  all  timelines,  through  which  TSOs  ensure,  in  a  continuous  way,  the 
maintenance  of  system  frequency  within  a  predefined  stability  range  as  set  out  in  Article  127  of  Regulation  (EU) 
2017/1485, and compliance with the amount of reserves needed with respect to the required quality, as set out in Part IV 
Title V, Title VI and Title VII of Regulation (EU) 2017/1485 (Balancing Regulation, 2017b); 

(5) ‘balancing capacity’ means a volume of reserve capacity that a balancing service provider has agreed to hold and in 
respect to which the balancing service provider has agreed to submit bids for a corresponding volume of balancing energy 
to the TSO for the duration of the contract (Balancing Regulation, 2017b); 

Table 16. Facilitating the regional procurement of balancing capacity task summary 

(8-k) Facilitating the regional procurement of balancing capacity 

Capacity Allocation (CA) 

RCC Task 

Category 

Contributing to 

Security of Supply (SoS), Market Integration (MI) 

Objective 

RCCs shall support the TSOs in the SOR in determining the amount of balancing 
capacity  that  needs  to  be  procured.  The  determination  of  the  amount  of 
balancing capacity shall:  

—  Be performed at the day-ahead or intraday timeframe, or both; 

—  Take into account possible substitutions between different types of reserve 

capacity with the aim to minimise the costs of procurement; 

—  Take  into  account  the  volumes  of  required  reserve  capacity  that  are 
expected to be provided by balancing energy bids, which are not submitted 
based on a contract for balancing capacity. 

Timeframe 

Day-ahead and/or intraday (DA and/or ID) 

Legal framework 

—  Article 37(1)(k) and Annex I (8) of the Electricity Regulation 2019/943 

—  Chapter 2 of Balancing Regulation 2017/2195 

Methodology and 
business process 
related documents 

—  Methodology 

in  development.  ENTSO-E  proposal  for  the  RCC  task 
‘Facilitating  the  regional  procurement  of  balancing  capacity”  (No.  49  of 
Table 25. Annex) 

ENTSO-E  submitted  proposal  for  approval  to  ACER  by  17  March  2023 
(ENTSO-E, 2022b). 

—  ACER,  2020:  Methodology  for  a  list  of  standard  products  for  balancing 
capacity  for  frequency  restoration  reserves  and  replacement  reserves  (No. 
15 of Table 25. Annex)  

—  ACER,  2020:  Methodology  on  the  common  and  harmonised  rules  and 
processes for the exchange and procurement of aFRR balancing capacity for 
the Nordic LFC Block (No. 16 of Table 25. Annex)  

—  ACER, 2021: Methodology for the market-based allocation process of cross-
zonal capacity for the exchange of balancing capacity for the Core CCR (No. 
23 of Table 25. Annex)  

Link with other tasks 

Task (7) – Regional sizing of reserve capacity 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

49 

 
 
 
5.9  Short-term adequacy (STA) assessment 

Box 16. Relevant definitions – Task (9) 

(68) ‘Adequacy’ means the ability of in-feeds into an area to meet the load in that area (SOGL Regulation, 2017a); 

13.  ‘Remedial  action’  means  any  measure  applied  by  a  TSO  or  several  TSOs,  manually  or  automatically,  in  order  to 
maintain operational security (CACM Regulation, 2015); 

l.  ‘Energy  Not  Served’  (ENS)  means,  in  a  given  zone  and  during  a  given  time  period,  the  energy  not  supplied  due  to 
insufficient resources to meet demand needs (ACER, 08/2020). 

Net  Transfer  Capacity  or  NTC  is  the  maximum  total  exchange  program  between  two  adjacent  bidding  zones  complying 
with  security  standards,  and  taking  into  account  the  technical  uncertainties  on  future  network  conditions  (Nord  Pool, 
2020). 

Monte Carlo method, statistical method of understanding complex physical or mathematical systems by using randomly 
generated numbers as input into those systems to generate a range of solutions. The likelihood of a particular solution 
can be found by dividing the number of times that solution was generated by the total number of trials. By using larger 
and  larger  numbers  of  trials,  the  likelihood  of  the  solutions  can  be  determined  more  and  more  accurately  (Source: 
Encyclopaedia Britannica website).  

RCC Task 

Category 

Table 17. Short-term adequacy (STA) assessment task summary 

(9-e) Short-term adequacy (STA) assessment 

System Adequacy (SA) 

Contributing to 

Security of Supply (SoS) 

Objective 

—  RCCs  shall  carry  out  week-ahead  to  at  least  day-ahead  regional  adequacy 

assessments. 

—  To  detect  situations  where  a  lack  of  adequacy  is  expected  in  any  of  the 

control areas or at regional level. 

—  The  calculations  will  be  performed  based  on  the  input  data  (generation, 
load,  NTCs,  HVDC  and  generation  tripping  ratio)  provided  by  the  TSOs  of 
SOR,  taking  into  account  possible  cross-zonal  exchanges  and  operational 
security limits. 

—  The process will be monitored by adequacy assessment agent (AAA), i.e. one 
RCC on Pan-European level on a rotational basis with other RCC as backup. 

—  There are two phases of the process: cross-regional and regional adequacy 

assessment (Figure 23). 

—  In  a  cross-regional  process,  deterministic  and  probabilistic  calculations  will 
be  performed  successively  in  the  STA  tool,  thus  providing  results  for  all 
participating countries for all timestamps in the next seven days. 

—  The  main  quantitative  metric  in  the  results  is  the  so  called  ‘remaining 
capacity’  (RC),  which  is  the  difference  between  ‘reliably  available  capacity’ 
and  ‘load’  (Figure  24).  RC  can  be  either  negative,  null  or  positive.  If  it  is 
positive there is a sufficient generation capacity in the country to cover the 
load, in which case the export of the surplus output is possible i.e. adequacy 
issue is not detected. If this value is negative, the load exceeds the reliable 
available  capacity  and  in  this  scenario  the  country  may  depend  on  the 
import to satisfy their load i.e. adequacy issue is detected (German Energy 
Agency, 2022). 

—  The  results  of  the  deterministic  calculation  will  appear  in  the  form  of  red 
(RC<0)  or  green  flag  (RC≥0)  for  a  timestamp(s)  and  a  country(ies),  i.e. 
adequacy  issue  is  detected  or  it  is  not  detected,  respectively.  Amount  of 

50 

 
 
Energy Not Supplied (ENS) will be shown accordingly. 

—  The  results  of  the  probabilistic  calculations  of  different  scenarios  using 
Monte Carlo approach will be shown as a percentage of scenarios in which 
adequacy issue may occur in the form of green, orange or red flag (ENTSO-
E, 2020). 

—  Depending  on  the  timestamp  in  which  adequacy  issue  is  identified  in  the 
deterministic  calculation,  the  second  phase  of  the  process,  regional 
adequacy assessment, can be triggered. 

—  Regional  adequacy  assessment  will  be  triggered  automatically  for  the 
timestamps  in  the  scope  of  the  next  three  days.  However,  any  TSO  can 
trigger  a  regional  STA  process  whenever  it  identifies  the  need  and 
independently of the timeframe (ENTSO-E, 2022c). 

—  Each  RCC  shall  coordinate  the  regional  system  adequacy  assessments  in 
close coordination with the TSO facing the adequacy issue, their impacting 
neighbours and other RCCs. 

—  They will agree on the remedial actions to reduce risks of lack of adequacy, 
and share the results to the TSOs in the SOR and to other RCCs (Table 9).  

—  If  the  remedial  actions  proposed  after  the  regional  adequacy  assessment 
cannot  solve  or  mitigate  adequacy  issues,  the  critical  grid  situation  (CGS) 
(more details in Chapter 7.2 of this Report) may be triggered. 

Timeframe 

Weak-ahead to day-ahead (WA to DA) 

Legal framework 

—  Article 37(1)(e) and Annex I (9) of the Electricity Regulation 2019/943 

Methodology and 
business process 
related documents 

IT environments and 
tools 

—  Article 81 and Article 107 of the SOGL Regulation 2017/1485 

—  Article 8 of Risk-preparedness Regulation 2019/941 

—  ACER,  08/2020:  Methodology  for  Short-term  and  Seasonal  Adequacy 

Assessments (No. 14 of Table 25. Annex) 

—  ENTSO-E,  2020:  Explanatory  note  –  Short-term  and  Seasonal  Adequacy 

Assessments Methodology (No. 44 of Table 25. Annex) 

—  ENTSO-E, 2021: Short term adequacy forecasts (STA) implementation guide 

(No. 34 of Table 25. Annex) 

—  ACER.  24/2020:  Methodology  for  the  European  resource  adequacy 

assessment (ERAA) (No. 18 of Table 25. Annex) 

—  ENTSO-E Operational Planning Data Environment (OPDE)  platform for data 

exchange 

—  ENTSO-E Pan-European STA tool for process calculations 
RCCs and TSOs use the same STA tool owned by ENTSO-E for all pan-European 
STA-related activities: delivery of STA input data & quality check, monitoring of 
STA  calculation  process,  creation  and  downloading  of  STA  reports  (ENTSO-E, 
2022c). 

Link with other tasks 

Task (10) – Outage Planning Coordination 
Task (16) – Seasonal adequacy assessments 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

51 

 
 
Figure 23. Example of the STA week-ahead process 

Cross-
regional 
adequacy 
assessment

CRAA

•Calculations:

•Deterministic
•Probabilistic

TSO's input 
data 
gathering

•Generation
•Load
•NTCs
•HVDC and 
Generation 
Tripping ratio

CRAA 
results
Report

Adequacy 
issue 
detected

Regional 
adequacy
assessments

RAA

RAA results

Report

•Deterministic:

•Red flag
•Green flag
•Probabilistic:

•Percentage of 
scenarios with 
adeq. issues

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

•Remedial 
actions 
proposed

Figure 24. Quantitative metrics in the power system adequacy calculations 

Source: German Energy Agency (dena), 2022. 

52 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5.10  Regional outage planning coordination (OPC) 

Box 17. Relevant definitions – Task (10) 

a. ‘Planned Outage’ means a state of an asset when it is not available in the power system but this outage was planned in 
advance, including maintenance, mothballing and any other non-availabilities known in advance (ACER, 08/2020). 

(82) ‘outage coordination region’ means a combination of control areas for which TSOs define procedures to monitor and 
where necessary coordinate the availability status of relevant assets in all time-frames (SOGL Regulation, 2017a); 

Outage  Coordination  Region  –  Within  the  Outage  Coordination  Region,  an  RCC  is  appointed  and  his  role  is  to  facilitate, 
coordinate  and  perform  tasks  and  provide  recommendations  for  the  outage  planning  process.  TSOs  ensure  their 
participation by providing outage planning inputs in the specific outage coordination region (ENTSO-E, 2021b). 

(86) ‘outage planning incompatibility’ means the state in which a combination  of the availability status of  one  or more 
relevant grid elements, relevant power generating modules, and/or relevant demand facilities and the best estimate of the 
forecasted  electricity  grid  situation  leads  to  violation  of  operational  security  limits  taking  into  account  remedial  actions 
without costs which are at the TSO's disposal (SOGL Regulation, 2017a); 

RCC Task 

Category 

Table 18. Regional outage planning coordination (OPC) task summary 

(10-f) Regional outage planning coordination (OPC) 

Operational Planning (OP) 

Contributing to 

Security of Supply (SoS) 

Objective 

—  RCCs shall carry out regional OPC in order to monitor the availability status 
of the relevant assets and  coordinate their availability plans to ensure the 
operational  security  of  the  transmission  system,  while  maximising  the 
capacity  of  the  interconnectors  and  the  transmission  systems  affecting 
cross-zonal flows. 

—  Each  RCC  shall  maintain  a  single  list  of  relevant  grid  elements,  power-
generating modules,  demand facilities of the system operation region, and 
make  it  available  on  the  ENTSO-E  operational  planning  data  environment 
(OPDE). 

—  Each  RCC  shall  carry  out  the  following  activities  related  to  outage 

coordination in the SOR, outage coordination region: 

●  Assess outage planning compatibility using all transmission system 

operators' year-ahead availability plans; 

●  Provide the TSOs in the SOR with a list of detected outage planning 
incompatibilities (OPIs) and the solutions it proposes to solve them. 

Timeframe 

Year-ahead, (month-ahead), week-ahead (YA, (MA), WA) 

Legal framework 

—  Article 37(1)(f) and Annex I (10) of the Electricity Regulation 2019/943. 

—  Article 80 of the SOGL Regulation 2017/1485. 

Methodology and 
business process 
related documents 

—  ACER,  08/2019:  Methodology  for  assessing  the  relevance  of  assets  for 

outage coordination (No. 12 of Table 25. Annex). 

—  ENTSO-E, 2021: Outage planning coordination implementation guide (No. 35 

of Table 25. Annex). 

IT environments and 
tools 

—  ENTSO-E OPDE platform for data exchange 

—  ENTSO-E Pan-European OPC tool for process 

The pan-European OPC tool  facilitates the coordination of outages, sharing the 

53 

 
 
element  list  and  maintaining  of  the  database  for  the  relevant  assets.  A 
coordinated procedure ensures the quality and consistency of the data, e. g. via 
the validation of information about the planned status of the cross-border lines 
of the TSOs (ENTSO-E, 2022c). 

Link with other tasks 

Task (2) – Coordinated Security Analysis 

Task (3) – Common Grid Model 

Task (9) – Short-term Adequacy 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

Figure 25. Example of the OPC process 

TSOs

•Submission 
of outage 
unavailability 
plans

RCC

•Merging 
results

TSOs

•Review
of the 
results

RCCs to 
TSOs:

•Regional 
reports
•Remedial 
actions

RCCs

•OPI*/
OPSC** 
assessment
•Security 
analysis

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

*Outage planning incompatibility  
**Outage planning security constraint 

54 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5.11  Supporting the TSOs in the inter-transmission system operators’ settlement 

Box 18. Relevant definitions – Task (11) 

a. ‘Calculation of costs’, as the technical part of cost sharing, means the process of calculating all costs and revenues of 
redispatching  and  countertrading  actions  per  bidding  zone/TSO  which  are  eligible  for  the  regional  cost  sharing  process 
under the cost sharing methodologies per each CCR. This process comprises the collection of input data, the calculation of 
the cost sharing key and the aggregation of the monthly total costs per bidding zone and/or TSO. At the request of TSOs, 
the calculation of costs and revenues resulting from redispatching and countertrading actions can be delegated to one or 
several RCCs (ACER, 13/2022); 

c. ‘Financial Settlement’ means the act of creating the invoicing documents per bidding zone and/or TSO on redispatching 
and countertrading costs and revenues. Financial Settlement ends with the completion of invoicing (ACER, 13/2022); 

g.  ‘Inter-TSO  Settlement’  means  the  financial settlement  of  the  costs  and  revenues  of  TSOs  of  the  same  CCR  resulting 
from non-overlapping XRA according to Article 74 of the CACM Regulation. If eligible for cost-sharing, a non-overlapping 
XRA  must  follow  the  cost  sharing  process  as  defined  in  the  regional  methodology  of  its  CCR.  Inter-TSO  cost  sharing  is 
subject to the present methodology (ACER, 13/2022); 

(26)  ‘redispatching’  means  a  measure,  including  curtailment,  that  is  activated  by  one  or  more  transmission  system 
operators  or  distribution  system  operators  by  altering  the generation,  load  pattern,  or  both,  in  order  to  change  physical 
flows  in  the  electricity  system  and  relieve  a  physical  congestion  or  otherwise  ensure  system  security  (Electricity 
Regulation, 2019c); 

16. ‘Congestion income’ means the revenues received as a result of capacity allocation (CACM Regulation, 2015); 

Table 19. Supporting the TSOs in the inter-transmission system operators’ settlement task summary 

RCC Task 

(11-l) Supporting the TSOs in the inter-transmission system operators’ 
settlement 

Category 

Other 

Contributing to 

Market Integration (MI), Cost Efficiency (CE) 

Objective 

—  The TSOs in the SOR may jointly decide to receive support from the RCC in 
administering  the  financial  flows  related  to  settlements  between  TSOs 
involving more than two TSOs, such as: 

●  Redispatching costs 

●  Congestion income 

●  Unintentional deviations 

●  Or reserve procurement costs. 

—  Support  will  be  offered  in  optimisation  of  inter-transmission  system 

operator compensation mechanisms. 

Timeframe 

Upon request from TSOs. 

Legal framework 

—  Article 37(1)(l) and Annex I (11) of the Electricity Regulation 2019/943. 

Methodology and 
business process 
related documents 

—  ACER, 13/2022: Methodology for the Optimisation of Inter-TSO Settlements 
related to Redispatching and Countertrading (No. 29 of Table 25. Annex). 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

55 

 
 
5.12  Training and certification of RCC staff 

Box 19. Relevant definitions – Task (12) 

a. ‘RCC Training Programme’ means a general framework of all aspect related to training (including Training Modules and 
RCC annual Training Plan) and certification. The RCC Training Programme is made per each RCC (ACER, 07/2022); 

f. ‘RCC Operators’ means all staff which operate one or more of the tasks carried out by RCCs according to Article 37 of 
Regulation (EU) 2019/943, with the exception of the task under Article 37(1)(g) of Regulation (EU) 2019/943. Each RCC 
may define one or more types of RCC Operators (ACER, 07/2022); 

RCC Task 

Category 

Table 20. Training and certification of RCC staff task summary 

(12-g) Training and certification of RCC staff 

Other 

Contributing to 

Security of Supply (SoS) 

Objective 

—  RCCs  shall  prepare  and  carry  out  training  and  certification  programmes 
focusing on regional system  operation for the  personnel  working for RCCs, 
such as RCC operators. 

—  The  training  programs  shall  cover  all  the  relevant  components  of  system 
operation  where  the  RCC  performs  tasks,  including  scenarios  of  regional 
crisis. 

Timeframe 

When the need arises. 

Legal framework 

—  Article 37(1)(g) and Annex I (12) of the Electricity Regulation 2019/943 

Methodology and 
business process 
related documents 

—  ACER,  07/2022:  Regional  Coordination  Centre  Training  and  Certification  of 

Staff Methodology (No. 28 of Table 25. Annex). 

Link with other tasks 

All tasks. 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

56 

 
 
 
 
5.13  Tasks related to identification of regional electricity crisis scenarios 

Box 20. Relevant definitions – Task (13) 

(9)  ‘Electricity  crisis’  means  a  present  or  imminent  situation  in  which  there  is  a  significant  electricity  shortage,  as 
determined  by  the  Member  States  and  described  in  their  risk-preparedness  plans,  or  in which  it  is  impossible  to  supply 
electricity to customers (Risk-preparedness Regulation, 2019a); 

(13) ‘Crisis coordinator’ means a person, a group of persons, a team composed of the relevant national electricity crisis 
managers  or  an  institution  tasked  with  acting  as  a  contact  point  and  coordinating  the  information  flow  during  an 
electricity crisis (Risk-preparedness Regulation, 2019a); 

(18) ‘Early warning’ means a provision of concrete, serious, reliable information indicating that an event may occur which 
is  likely  to  result  in  a  significant  deterioration  of  the  electricity  supply  situation  and  is  likely  to  lead  to  electricity  crisis 
(Risk-preparedness Regulation, 2019a); 

(h) ‘Electricity crisis scenario’ means a description of an event or a chain of events that will (or is expected to) lead to a 
deterioration of security of supply of electricity affecting a community or whole society. An electricity crisis scenario may 
include  more  than  one  region  or  subgroup  defined  by  Member  States  or  may  include  parts  of  two  or  more  regions  or 
subgroups (ACER, 07/2020); 

(i) ‘Regional electricity crisis’ means a present or imminent situation in which more than one Member State has declared 
an electricity crisis at the same time (simultaneous crisis in two or more Member States) (ACER, 07/2020); 

Table 21. Tasks related to identification of regional electricity crisis scenarios summary 

RCC Task 

(13-m)  Tasks  related  to  identification  of  regional  electricity  crisis 
scenarios 

Category 

Operational Planning (OP) 

Contributing to 

Security of Supply (SoS) 

Objective 

—  If  the  ENTSO  for  Electricity  delegates  this  function,  RCCs  shall  identify 

regional electricity crisis scenarios.  

—  The identification of regional electricity crisis scenarios shall be  performed 

in accordance with the methodology. 

—  RCCs  shall  support  the  competent  authorities  of  each  SOR  upon  their 
request in the preparation and carrying out of biennial crisis simulation. 

Timeframe 

Upon request from ENTSO-E. Every 4 years unless circumstances requires more 
frequent updates. 

Legal framework 

—  Article 37(1)(m) and Annex I (13) of the Electricity Regulation 2019/943. 
—  Article  5,  Article  6(1)  and  Article  12(3)  of  Risk-preparedness  Regulation 

2019/941. 

Methodology and 
business process 
related documents 

—  ACER,  07/2020:  Methodology  for  Identifying  Regional  Electricity  Crisis 

Scenarios (No. 13 of Table 25. Annex). 

—  Update of the above methodology is in progress in which RCCs could play an 
in  providing  their  expertise  of  regional 

even  more 
coordination to entities involved in the process. 

important  role 

—  Role  specifically  related  to  cross-border  dependencies  between  Member 
States and the regional impact of (regional) electricity crisis scenarios. 

Link with other tasks 

Task (6) – Post-operation and post-disturbances  

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

57 

 
 
 
5.14  Identification  of  needs  for  new  transmission  capacity  and  supporting  the 

ten-year network development plan (TYNDP) 

Box 21. Relevant definitions – Task (14) 

The  10-year  network  development  plan  (TYNDP)  that  ENTSO-E  publishes  every  two  years  presents  how  to  develop  the 
power  grid  in  the  next  10  to  20  years  so  that  it  can  effectively  contribute  to  achieving  these  different  and  sometimes 
competing goals. The TYNDP is the outcome of a two-year process, starting with the development of scenarios or visions 
of how the European power system might look in 2030 and 2040 (ENTSO-E, c). 

Table 22. Identification of needs for new transmission capacity and supporting the ten-year network development plan 
(TYNDP) task summary 

RCC Task 

(14-p)  Identification  of  needs  for  new  transmission  capacity  and 
supporting the ten-year network development plan (TYNDP) 

Category 

Operational Planning (OP) 

Contributing to 

Security  of  Supply  (SoS),  Market  Integration  (MI),  Energy  Efficiency  (EE), 
Decarbonisation (D), Innovation (I) 

Objective 

—  RCCs shall support TSOs in the identification of needs for new transmission 
capacity,  for  an  upgrade  of  existing  transmission  capacity  or  for  their 
alternatives. 

—  To be submitted to the  regional groups and to be included in the ten-year 

network development plan. 

—  ENTSO-E Regional Groups (Figure 26.):  

●  Northern Seas (BE, DE, DK, FR, IE, LU, NI, NL, NO) 

●  Continental South West (ES, FR, PT) 

●  Continental South East (AL, BA, BG, CY, GR, HR, IT, ME, MK, RO, RS, 

SI) 

●  Continental Central South (AT, CH, DE, FR, IT, SI) 

●  Continental Central East (AT, CZ, DE, HR, HU, PL, RO, SK, SI) 

●  Baltic Sea (DE, DK, EE, FI, LV, LT, NO, PL, SE). 

Timeframe 

Upon request from TSOs. Every two years. 

Legal framework 

—  Article 37(1)(p) and Annex I (14) of the Electricity Regulation 2019/943. 

—  Regulation 347/2013 – Guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure, 

repealed by Regulation (EU) 2022/869. 

Methodology and 
business process 
related documents 

—  Article 51 of Electricity Directive (EU) 2019/944. 

—  Methodology in development 

—  ENTSO-E,  2022:  3rd  ENTSO-E  Guideline  for  cost-benefit  analysis  of  grid 

development projects (No. 45 of Table 25. Annex). 

—  ENTSO-E,  2023:  Implementation  Guidelines  for  TYNDP  2022  based  on  3rd 
ENTSO-E  guideline  for  cost  benefit  analysis  of  grid  development  projects 
(No. 46 of Table 25. Annex). 

—  ENTSO-E, 2023: Implementation Guidelines for System Needs Study (No. 47 

of Table 25. Annex). 

58 

 
 
Link with other tasks 

Task (3) – Common Grid Model 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

Figure 26. ENTSO-E’s System Development regions. Each region is covered by one Regional Investment Plan. 

Source: (ENTSO-E, 2023) 

59 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5.15  Calculation of the maximum entry capacity for foreign capacity 

Box 22. Relevant definitions – Task (15) 

 (22)  ‘capacity  mechanism’    or  CM  means  a  temporary  measure  to  ensure  the  achievement  of  the  necessary  level  of 
resource  adequacy  by  remunerating  resources  for  their  availability,  excluding  measures  relating  to  ancillary  services  or 
congestion management (Electricity Regulation, 2019c); 

(r) ’entry capacity’ means any kind of cross-zonal access rights, which can be allocated to enable eligible foreign capacity 
providers to participate in a CM for a given delivery period (ACER, 36/2020). 

(u) ‘Foreign’ relates to a Member State, bidding zone or control area where a capacity provider (or a CMU) is located. This 
Member State, bidding zone or control area is outside the Member State(s) applying the CM, in which the capacity provider 
intends to participate (ACER, 36/2020). 

(v) ‘Foreign capacity provider’ is the capacity provider that offers foreign CMU(s) in the (domestic) CM (ACER, 36/2020). 

(w) ‘Foreign TSO’ is the TSO of a Member State, bidding zone or control area outside the Member State(s) applying the CM, 
where a capacity provider (or a CMU) is located (ACER, 36/2020). 

(y) ’Maximum entry capacity’ means the maximum allowed entry capacity on a given CM border for a given delivery period 
(ACER, 36/2020). 

(hh)  ‘System  stress’  refers  to  a  time  of  system  stress  in  line  with  Article  22(1)  of  the  Electricity  Regulation  2019/943. 
System stress may refer to either: 

- A forecast of system stress events for a target year when calculating the maximum entry capacity  

or  

- A system stress event formally notified by the CM operator within the operation of a given CM (ACER, 36/2020). 

The  European  Resource  Adequacy  Assessment  (ERAA)  is  a  pan-European  monitoring  assessment  of  power  system 
resource adequacy of up to 10 years ahead. Building on the work done with the Mid-term Adequacy Forecast (MAF), the 
ERAA  is  a  leap  forward  in  system  modelling.  It  is  based  upon  state-of-the-art  methodologies  and  probabilistic 
assessments, aiming to model and analyse possible events which can adversely impact the balance between supply and 
demand of electric power. It will be an important element for supporting qualified decisions by policy makers on strategic 
matters such as the introduction of capacity mechanisms (CMs) (ENTSO-E, d). 

Table 23. Calculation of the maximum entry capacity for foreign capacity task summary 

(15-o) Calculation of the maximum entry capacity for foreign capacity 

Capacity Allocation (CA) 

RCC Task 

Category 

Contributing to 

Market Integration (MI), Security of Supply (SoS) 

Objective 

—  RCCs  shall  support  TSOs  in  calculating  the  value  of  the  maximum  entry 
capacity  available  for  the  participation  of  foreign  capacity  in  capacity 
mechanisms taking into account the expected availability of interconnection 
and the likely concurrence of system stress between the system where the 
mechanism  is  applied  and  the  system  in  which  the  foreign  capacity  is 
located. 

—  The calculation shall be performed in accordance with the methodology. 

—  RCCs shall provide a calculation for each bidding zone border covered by the 

SOR. 

—  RCCs will issue a recommendation to the TSOs. 

—  TSOs shall set the maximum entry capacity available for the participation of 
foreign  capacity  based  on  the  recommendation  of  the  RCCs  on  an  annual 
basis. 

—  ERAA  data  shall  be  shared  between  ENTSO-E  and  RCCs.  In  particular,  for 
each ERAA, ENTSOE shall provide RCCs with all the relevant information for 
the  calculation,  on  annual  basis,  of  the  maximum  entry  capacity  available 

60 

 
 
for cross-border participation in capacity mechanisms. 

Timeframe 

Upon request from TSOs. 

Legal framework 

—  Article  26(7),  Article  26(11)(a),  Article  37(1)(o)  and  Annex  I  (15)  of  the 

Electricity Regulation 2019/943 

Methodology and 
business process 
related documents  

—  ACER,  36/2020:  Technical  specifications  for  cross-border  participation  in 

capacity mechanisms (No. 20 of Table 25. Annex) 

—  ACER,  24/2020:  Methodology  for  the  European  resource  adequacy 

assessment (ERAA) (No. 18 of Table 25. Annex) 

Link with other tasks 

Task (9) – Short-term adequacy assessment 

Task (14) – Identification of needs for new transmission capacity and supporting 
the ten-year network development plan (TYNDP) 

Task (16) – Tasks related to the seasonal adequacy assessments 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

61 

 
 
 
 
 
5.16  Tasks related to the seasonal adequacy assessments 

Box 23. Relevant definitions – Task (16) 

(68) ‘Adequacy’ means the ability of in-feeds into an area to meet the load in that area (SOGL Regulation, 2017a); 

j.  ‘Loss  of  Load  Expectation’  (LOLE)  means,  in  a  given  zone  during  a  given  time  period,  the  expected  number  of  hours 
during which resources are insufficient to meet the demand needs (ACER, 08/2020). 

k. ‘Loss of Load Probability’ (LOLP) means, in a given zone and during a given time period, the probability that resources 
would be insufficient to meet the demand needs (ACER, 08/2020). 

l.  ‘Energy  Not  Served’  (ENS)  means,  in  a  given  zone  and  during  a  given  time  period,  the  energy  not  supplied  due  to 
insufficient resources to meet demand needs (ACER, 08/2020). 

m.  ‘Expected  Energy  Not  Served’  (EENS)  means,  in  a  given  zone  and  during  a  given  time  period,  the  energy  which  is 
expected not to be supplied due to insufficient resources to meet demand needs (ACER, 08/2020). 

n. ‘Adequacy probability metric’ (APM) means, in a given study zone and in a given time period, the probability of resources 
being sufficient to cover demand with supply. The sum of APM and LOLP yields 100% (ACER, 08/2020). 

Monte Carlo method, statistical method of understanding complex physical or mathematical systems by using randomly 
generated numbers as input into those systems to generate a range of solutions. The likelihood of a particular solution 
can be found by dividing the number of times that solution was generated by the total number of trials. By using larger 
and larger numbers of trials, the likelihood of the solutions can be determined more and more accurately (Encyclopaedia 
Britannica).  

RCC Task 

Category 

Table 24. Tasks related to the seasonal adequacy assessments summary 

(16-n) Tasks related to the seasonal adequacy assessments 

System Adequacy (SA) 

Contributing to 

Security of Supply (SoS) 

Objective 

—  The seasonal adequacy assessment will be performed in the form of winter 
and summer outlooks with the purpose of alerting MSs, TSOs and all other 
relevant  stakeholders  of  adequacy-related  risks  that  might  occur  in  the 
following six months. 

—  To  carry  out  the  regional  seasonal  adequacy  assessments,  ENTSO-E  can 

delegate the function to the RCCs. 

—  Both  the  short-term  and  seasonal  adequacy  assessments  shall  use  a 
probabilistic  methodology  to  assess  adequacy  for  the  concerned  periods 
(Figure 27).  

—  The methodology follows a Monte Carlo method to reflect the variability of 
weather as  well as the randomness of supply and transmission unplanned 
outages. 

Timeframe 

Upon request from ENTSO-E. Two times per year. 

Legal framework 

—  Article 37(1)(n) and Annex I (16) of the Electricity Regulation 2019/943. 

—  Article 8 and Article 9 of Risk-preparedness Regulation 2019/941 

Methodology and 
business process 
related documents  

—  ACER,  08/2020:  Methodology  for  Short-term  and  Seasonal  Adequacy 

Assessments (No. 14 of Table 25. Annex) 

—  ENTSO-E.,  2020:  Explanatory  note  on  Short-term  and  Seasonal  Adequacy 

Assessments Methodology (No. 44 of Table 25. Annex) 

—  ACER,  24/2020:  Methodology  for  the  European  resource  adequacy 

assessment (ERAA) (No. 18 of Table 25. Annex) 

62 

 
 
Link with other tasks 

Task (9) – Short-term adequacy assessment 

Task (15) – Calculation of the maximum entry capacity for foreign capacity 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

Figure 27. High-level information flow between adequacy assessments in different time horizons 

Operational planning 
timeframes

L
o
n
g
-
t
e
r
m

M
e
d
u
m

i

-
t
e
r
m

S
h
o
r
t
-
t
e
r
m

10YA

Long-term and Mid-Term Resource Adequacy Assessment (ERAA)

10-year-ahead adequacy results:

•  Year-by-year adequacy in each zone
•  Compliance with reliability standards
•  Impact of different regulatory scenarios on adequacy
•  Lack of generation and interconnectiuon capacities

YA

Year-ahead 
adequacy results

6MA

Seasonal Adequacy Assessment (Summer and Winter Outlooks)

MA

WA

DA

ID

C2RT

RT

Seasonal adequacy results:
•  Updated adequacy
•  Identification of most critical weeks and zones
•  Assessment of available countermeasures
•  Circumstances when risks exist

Critical weeks 
and zones

Short-term Adequacy Assessment (STA)

Short-term adequacy results:

•  Updated adequacy
•  Identification of most critical timestamps
•  Assessment of available countermeasures
•  Triggering of regional adequacy assessment if needed

Source: JRC analysis, 2023 (Based on ACER, 08/2020). 

63 

 
 
 
 
 
 
6  Approval procedure for (new) RCC task and expansion proposals 

In this chapter, the approval procedure for new RCC task and the methodology proposal for already existing 
tasks will be presented from two perspectives. First, procedural and legislative point of view will be given, with 
defined deadlines, according to the EU Regulations. And secondly, RCCs point of view will be provided to better 
understand to what extent process change, or new task, affects their business, shown from the perspective of 
one established RCC, which could reflect situation in other RCCs. As a final note in this Report, the points of 
improvement will be tackled that reflect recent needs, focusing on one of the tasks related to the (regional) 
electricity crisis scenarios, and possibility for the adoption of new security of electricity supply tasks. 

6.1  Legislative point of view 

As seen in the previous chapters, the list of all RCC tasks, five core and all new tasks, are mandated by the EU 
legislation and particularly based on the Article 37(1) and Annex I of the Electricity Regulation. For the tasks 
set out in that Article, also listed in Chapter 5 of this Report, and all new possible advisory tasks, where those 
tasks and methodologies are not already covered by the relevant network codes or guidelines, the ENTSO-E 
shall  develop  a  proposal  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  set  out  in  the  Article  27  of  the  Regulation, 
described further in this chapter. 

In  order  to  assign  RCCs  with  new  advisory  tasks,  Article  37(2)  of  the  Electricity  Regulation  describes  the 
prerequisites for this to happen: 

1.  Proposal for new advisory task to RCCs has to be made by the European Commission or a Member 

State. 

2.  On the basis of the proposal under 1, Committee, composed of representatives of the Member States 
and  established  by  Article  68  of  Electricity  Directive  2019/944 5,  shall  issue  an  opinion  on  the 
assignment of new advisory tasks to RCCs.  

Committee  issues  a  favourable  opinion  on  the  new  advisory  task  and  for  tasks  and  methodologies  not 
already covered by the relevant network codes or guidelines: 

3.  ENTSO-E submitting proposal for methodology:  

(a)  It  shall  carry  out  a  consultation  involving  all  relevant  stakeholders,  including  regulatory 

authorities and other national authorities.  

(b)  It shall consider the results of the consultation in its proposal. 

4.  Within three months of the date of receipt of the proposal, ACER shall either or approve it or amend 

it: 

(a)  If  amended  –  ACER  shall  consult  the  ENTSO  for  Electricity  before  approving  the  amended 

proposal. 

(b)  Following an approval – ACER shall publish the approved proposal on its website. 

(c)  Optional  –  ACER  may  request  changes  to  the  approved  proposal  at  any  time.  Within  six 
months  of  the  date  of  receipt  of  such  a  request,  the  ENTSO-E  shall  submit  a  draft  of  the 

5 Article 68 of Electricity Directive 2019/944 - Committee procedure 
1.   The Commission shall be assisted by a committee. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 

182/2011. 

2.   Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply. 

Article 3(2) of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 – Common provisions 
2. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee composed of representatives of the Member States. The committee shall be chaired 

by a representative of the Commission. The chair shall not take part in the committee vote. 

Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 – Advisory procedure  
1. Where the advisory procedure applies, the committee shall deliver its opinion, if necessary by taking a vote. If the committee takes a 

vote, the opinion shall be delivered by a simple majority of its component members.  

2. The Commission shall decide on the draft implementing act to be adopted, taking the utmost account of the conclusions drawn from 

the discussions within the committee and of the opinion delivered. 

64 

 
 
                                                        
 
 
proposed  changes  to  ACER.  Within  three  months  of  the  date  of  receipt  of  the  draft,  ACER 
shall amend or approve the changes and publish those changes on its website. 

5.  RCCs shall carry out those tasks based on the proposal following its approval by ACER. 

6.  Regulatory entities (ACER, NRAs) will monitor the compliance of RCCs with their tasks. 

The complete process is displayed in the Figure 28. It is worth noting that the steps 3-6, related to ENTSO-E’s 
proposals  for  methodologies,  were  already  made  or  are  in  progress  for  many  of  the  existing  16  RCC  tasks 
since 1 July 2022. The development status of these methodologies is mentioned in the Table 5 of Chapter 5 
and its subchapters. 

Figure 28. Approval procedure for existing/ new RCC task(s) 

• Publishing 
legislation 
proposal
• Including 
new RCC 
task

1. EC / MS

2. Committee

• Issuing 

opinion on 
the 
assignment 
of new tasks

• Making 

proposal for 
methodology
on existing/ 
new RCC task

3. ENTSO-E

4. ACER

• Approves or 

amends 
methodology in 
3 months

• Implementing 
new RCC task 
in a business 
process

5. RCCs

6. ACER/NRAs

• Monitoring 

the 
compliance 
of RCCs 
with their 
tasks

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

6.2  RCC’s business point of view 

In order to implement the mandated new task in the RCC day-to-day business, each RCC likely follows certain 
internal  procedure  on  how  to  do  it  in  the  most  efficient  way.  During  the  2022’s  5th  Regional  Coordination 
Conference  on  18  November  2022,  held  online  and  hosted  by  SCC  and  SEleNe  CC  RCCs,  some  RCCs 
mentioned that for some tasks it took several and more years to become fully operational, especially more 
developed and complicated ones such as the first five core tasks.  

Certainly  for  the  new  mandated  tasks,  the  time  for  implementation  will  highly  depend  on  the  task  and 
methodologies that have yet to be developed for a number of them. The procedure for implementing new RCC 
task in the RCC business is essentially provided in the Figure 29, based on presentation “Process for making a 
new task” by Nordic RCC during the Conference.  

1.  First and foremost would be to plan a budget required for adopting new task.  

2.  Then  they  have  to  plan  the  human  resources  to  be  able  to  develop  task  in  an  RCC  process.  That 
includes  finding  experts  in  the  area,  cooperating  with  experts  from  different  stakeholders  such  as 
other RCCs, TSOs and ENTSO-E, but also interpreting all the details from the methodology developed 
by ENTSO-E and approved by ACER.  

3.  When the broader coordination is done, the RCCs will have to think how to implement this into their 

own specific business.  

4.  Writing business process require setting up detailed procedures on how to perform the task, but more 

importantly, how the task will be integrated in the existing IT and legal infrastructure.  

65 

 
 
 
5.  Related to the tools needed for the task, either the existing ones will be upgraded or they will have to 
be developed from the beginning, also it will depend whether it will be implemented at the European 
or at a Regional level.  

6.  Last  but  not  least,  not  all  RCCs  have  the  human  resources  needed  to  perform  the  new  tasks.  That 
includes training and certification of operators (see Chapter 5.12) able to perform certain tasks. 

Figure 29. Implementation of task in the RCC business 

Source: JRC analysis, 2022 (based on Nordic RCC, 2022). 

66 

 
 
 
7  Proposals for expanding existing RCC task(s) and for new security of 

electricity supply tasks 

In this final chapter the points of improvement and expansion proposals will be presented. In recent years, EU 
has recognized the needs to rely on RCCs expertise, thus expanding some of their tasks related to the security 
of electricity supply (SoS) and system adequacy areas. In the sphere of SoS there are two additional points 
related to Critical Grid Situation (CGS) and System Modification Advice RequesT (SMART) Study, which will be 
presented  in  short  paragraphs.  These  are  also  called  “non-binding”  RCC  tasks/services,  that  were  used 
sometimes in the past and mentioned in certain documentation. It is important to note that there is not much 
information available on these specific tasks. Reason for that could be that they are historical tasks provided 
alongside,  and  as  a  complement  to,  once  5  core  RSC  services,  and  possibly  contractual  (bilateral)  tasks 
between  specific  RCCs  and  TSOs,  as  their  shareholders.  Moreover,  few  proposals  were  made  with  forward-
looking vision based on recent needs, these are related to regional flexibility and data learning. 

7.1  RCCs support to national and regional electricity crisis scenarios 

Considering experience in recent years, geopolitical situation, coupled with the first set of Risk-preparedness 
plans (RPPs), Member States and the Electricity Coordination Group (ECG) have recognized needs for deeper 
analyses, especially in relation to the national electricity crisis scenarios where these were missing. For an RPP 
to be considered satisfactory, identification of regional crisis scenarios will have to be commonly assessed as 
a  starting  point.  The  objective  in  the  development  of  these  regional  electricity  crisis  scenarios  is  to  provide 
adequate  information  that  will  allow  the  creation  of  efficient  RPPs.  The  effects  of  simultaneous  crisis 
scenarios and cascading effects based on simulations also cannot be omitted. Based on RPPs, MSs should be 
able  to  design  effective  measures  that  will  be  cross-checked  with  the  neighbouring  countries  and  regional 
participants. 

In this respects, ENTSO-E started in 2023 the process of revision of the methodology for the identification of 
regional  electricity  crisis  scenarios  conducted  as  per  the  requirement  expressed  in  Article  7  of  the  EU 
Regulation 2019/941 on Risk Preparedness Plans. The new methodology has been reviewed to enhance the 
roles and responsibilities of all relevant stakeholders at each stage of the process, from the establishment of 
the list of regional electricity crisis scenarios candidates, to the compilation of a final list, the simulation of 
simultaneous regional scenarios when possible and in a progressive manner, and its final evaluation including 
the cross-border impacts.   

For already existing RCC task (13) identification of electricity crisis scenarios (Chapter 5.13), the revision of the 
methodology enhances the role of the RCCs in the assessment of the cross-border dependencies in regional 
electricity crisis scenarios and in its assistance to ENTSO-E and TSOs throughout all the process. At an early 
stage,  RCCs  would  support  ENTSO-E  in  the  establishment  of  a  list  of  regional  electricity  crisis  scenario 
candidates and the compilation of the final list of regional electricity crisis scenarios prior to their assessment. 
Then, RCCs  could  step in to  enhance the  simulation and  evaluation of the regional aspect and cross-border 
dependencies,  and  their  impact  in  the  system  operation  regions  (SORs).  RCCs  role  could  be  to  ensure 
consistency among countries, by assisting TSOs to carry out deeper qualitative and quantitative assessments 
and simulations based on the input data they provided. 

In building the scenarios, TSOs would, among other sources, use information related to historical events and 
results of the post-operation and post-disturbances analysis (post event analysis task (6)) performed by RCCs, 
but also critical situations and incidents detected during daily coordinated security analysis (CSA) (task 2) with 
corresponding  results  and  actions,  and  results  from  regional  adequacy  assessment  of  short-term  adequacy 
task (9), if such situation arises.  

The above mentioned activities would be performed based on the ENTSO-E’s methodology to identify regional 
electricity crisis scenarios, which is approved and published by ACER, and updated at least every 4 years. This 
methodology contains all necessary guidelines and especially for the use of common and comparable data, 
and  if  need  arise,  it  will  serve  as  basis  for  designing  the  common  tool(s)  that  will  be  used  throughout  the 
process.  

7.2  Critical Grid Situation (CGS) coordination 

Critical  Grid  Situation  (CGS)  is  a  coordination  service  performed  by  RCCs  in  order  to  facilitate  a  regional  or 
cross-regional  coordination  in  critical  grid  situations.  CGS  is  defined  as  a  critical  situation  which  cannot  be 
solved solely at national level. To solve the situation, coordination between one or more TSOs is needed. 

67 

 
 
Box 24 Critical grid situation definition 

 A  Critical  Grid  Situation  is  a  potential  emergency  state,  c.f.  SOGL  article  18(3),  identified  in  the  operational  planning 
phase, when all the available regular countermeasures (Remedial Actions) are exhausted and therefore TSOs are required 
to take regionally coordinated extraordinary countermeasures (Source: Nordic RCC). 

The CGS service is not mandated by European legislation, but requested by ENTSO-E and is agreed between 
TSOs.  The  CGS  was  defined  as  a  service  delivered  by  the  RCCs  at  a  SOC  (System  Operation  Committee) 
meeting in September 2017. 

The  main purpose of this RCC task is to facilitate a regional or  cross-regional coordination. The core of the 
CGS  process  is  to  facilitate  and  support  exchange  of  information  between  relevant  TSOs  and  RCCs.  If  a 
potential Critical Situation occurs, the necessary steps to facilitate the situation must be taken. This situation 
is identified as a Critical Grid Situation when the normal, national relevant remedial actions are exhausted and 
extraordinary  measures  are  needed.  Each  CGS  is  unique,  and  a  CGS  can  be  triggered  by  a  TSO  or  by  a 
different task, such as short-term adequacy assessment as seen in the Chapter 5.9 of this report. TSOs often 
act proactively, using the CGS service to avoid a potential critical situation. The exchanged information can be 
a  description  of  the  expected  operational  situation,  forecast  for  production,  consumption  and  capacities  for 
relevant corridors, weather forecast and its impact on the situation and the availability of the grid. When the 
situation is solved, the RCCs will document the process for the actual situation (Source: Nordic RCC website). 

CGS  could  provide  good  basis  for  future  quantitative  (and  qualitative)  simulation  exercises  of  national  and 
regional crisis scenarios, firstly because these situations are realistic example of what could happen and what 
actions had to be taken in everyday system operation, coordinated among other TSOs and RCCs in order to 
avoid a  critical grid situation which may result in electricity crisis, and secondly  because the  complete data 
(load, generation, flows) is already available and archived, including complete grid during CSA task. This data 
can  then  be  further  used  and  investigated  with  power  flow  tools  and  thus  creating  (even  worse)  electricity 
crisis scenarios, while impacting on generation (water, wind, solar, etc.), increase of load, and/or impacting on 
grid elements (loss of interconnection lines, transformers, etc.). On top of that, RCCs could be included, or even 
lead the simulation of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) risks which could affect huge swathes of electricity grid at 
once with a single triggering event, for which cause can be either natural (coronal mass ejection, geomagnetic 
solar  storm,  e.g.  Carrington  Event)  or  artificial  i.e.  man-made  (nuclear  or  non-nuclear  EMP).  RCCs  as  the 
independent entities could, in cooperation with ENTSO-E and TSOs, for example simulate the impact and the 
risks of disconnection (and later reconnection-reenergising) of power grid elements and users (i.e. producers 
and  consumers)  in  case  of  both  natural  and  artificial  phenomenon,  thus  proposing  the  best  approach  and 
remedial actions to be taken, and likely anticipate operational planning. 

CGS  coordination  is  a  type  of  task  that  could  potentially  be  mandated  legally  with  the  aim  to  bring  more 
security of supply certainty enhanced with regional coordination. It would be aimed at the intraday (ID) and 
close to real-time (C2RT) timeframes after all regular countermeasures have been exhausted and TSOs have 
to reach out for an exceptional and/or regional measure. TSOs could rely on separate entities but taking RCCs 
as  a  middleman  who  should  have  a  better  overview  on  the  regional  situation  and  impact  of  certain  CGS 
agreed  remedial  actions  could  be  beneficial.  These  actions  are  taken  to  avoid  leaving  difficult  situations  in 
(C2)RT which could become alert or emergency states if not taken care of. 

7.3  System Modification Advice RequesT (SMART) study 

TSOs may request System Modification Advice Requests, or SMART studies, from RCCs to deeper investigate 
specific grid situations in close to real-time (C2RT) (Coreso, 2017). Examples could be calculating amount of 
redispatching,  assessing  impact  of  new  forced  outage(s)  that  happened  in  ID  which  were  not  covered  with 
earlier studies, etc.  

RCCs could then support TSOs in case of any system state other than normal or crisis level is triggered (alert 
or emergency state, early warning), by executing assessments including the grid in the modelling (for these 
particular cases), and providing remedial action recommendations. 

SMART  is  a  task  that  could  be  further  examined  as  a  potential  new  task  or  as  an  addition  to  ones  already 
established, as it could help TSOs in difficult and tense C2RT situations, where lack of resources, whether time 
or  human,  could  impact  decision  making.  Since  RCCs  could  already  possess  the  tools,  this  task  could  be 
developed based on the needs/ requests from the TSOs, preferably agreed on ENTSO-E level. 

68 

 
 
7.4  Modelling of new needs of regional flexibility 

Flexibility  tools  like  demand-side  response  have  demonstrated  their  effectiveness  in  meeting  the  demand 
reductions mandated by EC Regulation 2022/1854. They are expected to continue playing a pivotal role in the 
near future, as outlined in the reform of the electricity market design (European Council, 2023). The recently 
adopted  reform  emphasizes  the  importance  of  these  tools  by  stating  that,  based  on  the  national  flexibility 
assessment, Member States should define an indicative national objective for non-fossil flexibility, including 
the  respective  specific  contributions  of  both  demand  side  response  and  energy  storage  to  that  objective, 
which  should  also  be  reflected  in  their  integrated  national  energy  and  climate  plans  in  accordance  with 
Regulation (EU) 2018/1999. In particular, the reform of the electricity market design calls the Member States 
to request system operators to design a peak shaving product enabling additional demand response in order 
to contribute to decreasing consumption in the electricity system. 

Preserving these tools not only bolsters the ability to tackle national electricity crisis, but they could also be 
used to extend support to other Member States. According to findings of the Ember study for a decarbonised 
European electricity system by 2035, the demand for flexibility, particularly on daily and weekly timescales, 
will undergo significant growth. This surge is primarily driven by the integration of solar PV and wind energy, 
with  projected  increases  of  up  to  twice  by  2030  and  six  fold  by  2050  compared  to  current  levels  (Ember, 
2022).  

The  composition  of  flexibility  portfolios  will  undergo  a  profound  shift,  transitioning  away  from  dispatchable 
conventional thermal power plants (many of which are subject to phase-out strategies in several countries) to 
a more prominent role of cross-border exchanges, storage and demand side flexibility.  

As  renewables  become  more  prevalent,  the  necessity  for  flexibility  will  be  also  required  to  maintain  grid 
stability against unforeseen events, such as forced outages, due to the reduced inertia of the power system, 
and to maintain system balance against uncertainties in forecasts and renewable generation forecast errors.  

These  flexibility  needs  are  currently  satisfied  explicitly  through  balancing  reserves.  New  products,  such  as 
faster reserves or inertia, or increasing volumes of reserves could be required in the future, with special focus 
on activating and integrating flexibility, in particular from small electricity generators, demand side response 
and storage. Regional cooperation is a key enabler for a cost-efficient integration of renewable energy, with 
interconnections  enabling  to  reduce  flexibility  needs  across  states  and  market  coupling  facilitating  liquidity 
and  efficiency  of  markets.  According  to  the  report  “Power  System  Flexibility  in  the  Penta  region  –  Current 
State and Challenges for a Future Decarbonised Energy System” from the Pentalateral Energy forum, regional 
cooperation could play a key role by bringing benefits at all time frames, as flexibility needs could be reduced 
between 10% and 20% depending on the time horizon and flexibility time frame in the Pentalateral Region 
(Penta, 2023). 

As part of their task 7 (Regional Sizing of Reserve Capacity), RCCs could also do specific assessment of the 
regional flexibility and suggest recommendations for dealing with this new electricity market scenario, where 
large  scale  renewable  energy  producers  and  other  participants  could  be  also  subject  to  balancing 
responsibility.  Having  into  account  the  relevance  of  the  flexibility  for  the  New  Electricity  Market,  the  RCCs 
could also contribute to assess the cross-border effects of this flexibility, as well as its use at regional level. 

7.5  Data learning 

Data  learning  can  significantly  enhance  the  capabilities  of  RCCs  by  leveraging  advanced  analytics  and 
machine learning algorithms to analyze vast amounts of data related to electricity market dynamics, security 
threats, and operational challenges. 

RCCs could provide decision making tools for data learning based on information related to historical events, 
demand forecasts and results of the post-operation and post-disturbances analysis post event analysis task 
(6)  performed  by  RCCs,  but  also  critical  situations  and  incidents  detected  during  daily  coordinated  security 
analysis  (CSA)  (task  2)  with  corresponding  results  and  actions,  and  results  from  regional  adequacy 
assessment  of  short-term  adequacy  task  (9).  These  tools  enable  RCCs  to  anticipate  market  dynamics  and 
identify the most effective remedial actions when required, such as managing imbalances, optimizing demand 
response programs, and implementing risk management strategies.  

Through  this  data  learning,  RCCs  could  develop  and  implement  early  warning  systems  that  alert  TSOs  and 
ENTSO-E  to  potential  threats  or  emergencies  in  the  electricity  sector.  These  systems  may  utilize  advanced 
technologies, data analytics, and predictive modelling to provide timely and accurate information for decision-
making.  

69 

 
 
This  tool  could  allow  RCC  to  support  Member  States  in  elaborating  new  threat  scenarios  to  conduct  the 
biennial simulation of electricity crisis, required by the Risk Preparedness Regulation (Article 12). 

Additionally,  RCCs  could  identify  vulnerabilities  or  critical  parts  in  the  grid  and  promote  infrastructure 
upgrades,  enhancing  the  resilience  of  the  power  sector  to  improve  grid  reliability,  reduce  downtime,  and 
minimize the risk of disruptions in market operations. 

70 

 
 
8  Conclusions 

The Regional Coordination Centres (RCCs) can provide regional and cross-regional services that no individual 
country-based transmission system entity is in the position to deliver. This also entails that RCCs might have 
to  reconcile  different  interests  of  countries  included  in  a  given  region  and  this  task  can  become  growingly 
strategic  as  well  as  sensitive,  especially  during  crisis  times.  Thus,  RCCs  are  one  of  the  key  actors  in 
transmission  system  operation  in  Europe,  considering  their  regional,  and  cross-regional,  presence  in  the 
system operation regions (SORs). 

As seen at the beginning of this report, not all RCCs have been established recently, as some of them have 
been contributing to the European electricity transmission system governance for more than a decade, under 
the  brand  of  RSCs  –  regional  security  coordinators.  Having  gained  experience  through  past  years’  massive 
electricity system  changes, these  more experienced RCCs possess the expertise needed to provide  guidance 
not only to TSOs and ENTSO-E (e.g. on methodology review or task structuring processes), but also to more 
recently  established  RCCs.  For  that  reason,  increasing  RCC-RCC  cooperation  and  active  involvement  in  the 
European  decision-making  initiatives  appear  crucial.  An  example  of  good  practice  is  the  yearly  Regional 
coordination conferences, where RCCs present their activities, highlight their achievements and offer outlooks 
to other entities and Member States. 

This report provides an overview of RCCs, their tasks and their interactions with TSOs and other power system 
entities.  Five  core  tasks,  namely  coordinated  capacity  calculation  (1),  coordinated  security  analysis  (2), 
creation of common grid model (3), short-term adequacy (9) and outage planning coordination (10) are being 
performed  on  a  daily  basis  without  major  issues.  They  have  been  established  in  the  RCC’s  shift-based 
business process, with  proper procedures, methodologies  and guidelines for a considerable amount of time. 
Needless  to  say,  these  tasks  are  constantly  evolving  to  match  the  current  and  updated  methodologies  and 
regulations,  and  their  amendments.  Clear  communication  in  regional  coordination  between  TSOs  and  cross-
regional  coordination  between  RCCs  are  essential.  In  tasks  (1)  and  (2),  TSOs  should  take  into  consideration 
RCCs’  coordinated  actions,  recommendations  and  outcomes  of  the  tasks’  processes,  while  the  regulating 
authorities  will  address  the  compliance  of  RCCs’  tasks  with  legislative  framework,  methodologies  and 
guidelines. Of the other eleven “new” tasks, it can be safely assumed that the training and certification of RCC 
staff (12) is being carried out based on the  human resource and expertise needs. Post-operation and post-
disturbance  analysis  and  reporting  (6)  is  taking  the  big  entry  and  is  already  much-established.  For  the 
remaining 9 there are few tasks that do not require services on a continuous basis or are conditional; two of 
those are support to TSOs in defence and restoration plans’ consistency assessment (4) and  supporting the 
TSOs in the coordination of regional restoration (5), others are supporting the TSOs in the inter-transmission 
system  operators  settlements  (11),  and  tasks  in  support  to  ENTSO-E  related  to  the  seasonal  adequacy 
assessments (16), support to ten-year network development plan (14) and identification of regional electricity 
crisis scenarios (13), with the latter revised in Chapter 7.1. Other tasks, where the associated methodologies 
are  still  in  development  status,  are:  regional  sizing  of  reserve  capacity  (7)  and  regional  procurement  of 
balancing capacity (8), with task calculation of maximum entry capacity (15) being conditional, but with the 
methodology ready.  

RCCs,  together  with  TSOs  and  ENTSO-E,  have  started  to  form  a  backbone  on  which  the  whole  European 
transmission  power  system  can  rely  upon.  Nevertheless,  few  points  of  improvements  for  RCCs  tasks  with 
forward looking vision, in relation to the regional electricity crisis scenarios, critical grid situation coordination, 
flexibility and data learning, were pointed out. RCCs could provide dedicated assistance to TSOs and national 
electricity crisis scenarios identification, which are the basis for the regional ones. Altogether they can serve 
as  an  essential  part  of  the  overall  important  risk-preparedness  strategy  and  plans  that  all  Member  States 
have  to  produce  and  adopt,  as  these  have  to  cover  past,  current  and  emerging  threats.  In  the  system 
adequacy and operational planning domains, RCCs could contribute with regional overview and simulations of 
the potential incidents, and show their competence in providing their products  such as services, reports and 
recommendations. RCC products will become more valuable over time as the decarbonisation of the electricity 
system increases, and could be established with timely and proper mandates by the European Union bodies. 

71 

 
 
 
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List of abbreviations and definitions  

a/mFRR  Automatic/Manual Frequency Restoration Reserves 

ACER 

The European Union Agency for Cooperation of Energy Regulators 

APM 

BZ 

BZB 

Adequacy Probability Metric 

Bidding Zone 

Bidding Zone Border 

C2RT 

Close to real-time 

CA 

CCC 

CCR 

Capacity Allocation 

Coordinated Capacity Calculation 

Capacity Calculation Region 

CGM 

Common Grid Model 

CGMES 

Common Grid Model Exchange Standard 

CGS 

CNE 

CM 

Critical Grid Situation 

Critical Network element 

Capacity Mechanism 

CRAA 

Cross-regional Adequacy Assessment 

CSA 

Coordinated Security Analysis 

D 

DA 

Decarbonisation of the Economy 

Day-ahead 

D2CF 

Day-ahead Congestion Forecast 

DACF 

2-days-ahead Congestion Forecast 

DSO 

Distribution System Operator 

EC 

ECA 

ECG 

EE 

ENS 

European Commission 

European Court of Auditors 

Electricity Coordination Group 

Energy Efficiency 

Energy Not Served 

EENS 

Expected Energy Not Served 

ENTSO-E  The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity 

ERAA 

European Resource Adequacy Assessment 

EU 

FCR 

I 

ID 

European Union 

Frequency Containment Reserves 

Innovation 

Intraday 

IDCF 

Intraday Congestion Forecast 

IGM 

JRC 

Individual Grid Model 

Joint Research Centre 

LOLE 

Loss of Load Expectation 

LOLP 

Loss of Load Probability 

76 

 
 
MA 

MI 

MS 

Month-ahead 

Market Integration 

Member State 

NEMO 

Nominated Electricity Market Operator 

NRA 

NTC 

OP 

OPC 

National Regulatory Agency 

Net Transfer/Transmission Capacity 

Operational Planning 

Operational Planning Coordination 

OPDE 

Operational Planning Data Environment 

OS 

PST 

RCC 

RA 

RAA 

RG 

RR 

Operational Security 

Phase Shifting Transformer 

Regional Coordination Centre 

Remedial Action 

Regional Adequacy Assessment 

Regional Group 

Replacement Reserves 

RSC 

Regional Security Coordinator 

RT 

SA 

SN 

SOC 

SOR 

SoS 

STA 

TRM 

TSO 

TTC 

Real-time 

System Adequacy 

Snapshot 

System Operations Committee 

System Operation Region 

Security of Supply 

Short-term Adequacy 

Transfer Reliability Margin 

Transmission System Operator 

Total Transfer/Transmission Capacity 

TYNDP 

Ten-year Network Development Plan 

UCTE 

Union for the Co-ordination of Transmission of Electricity 

WA 

XNE 

Week-ahead 

Cross-border Relevant Network Element 

XNEC 

Cross-border Relevant Network Element Contingency 

YA 

Year-ahead 

77 

 
 
List of boxes 

Box 1. TSO definition .......................................................................................................................................................................................................6 

Box 2. Responsibilities of a TSO ...............................................................................................................................................................................6 

Box 3. Tasks of TSOs .......................................................................................................................................................................................................7 

Box 4. ENTSO-E role .........................................................................................................................................................................................................8 

Box 5. Relevant definitions – CCRs ..................................................................................................................................................................... 23 

Box 6. Relevant definitions – Operational Timeframes ......................................................................................................................... 27 

Box 7. Relevant definitions – Market timeframes .................................................................................................................................... 27 

Box 8. RCC’s monitoring and reporting............................................................................................................................................................. 32 

Box 9. Relevant definitions – Task (1) .............................................................................................................................................................. 33 

Box 10. Relevant definitions – Task (2) ........................................................................................................................................................... 36 

Box 11. Relevant definitions – Task (3) ........................................................................................................................................................... 41 

Box 12. Relevant definitions – Task (4) ........................................................................................................................................................... 43 

Box 13. Relevant definitions – Task (5) ........................................................................................................................................................... 45 

Box 14. Relevant definitions – Task (7) ........................................................................................................................................................... 47 

Box 15. Relevant definitions – Task (8) ........................................................................................................................................................... 49 

Box 16. Relevant definitions – Task (9) ........................................................................................................................................................... 50 

Box 17. Relevant definitions – Task (10)........................................................................................................................................................ 53 

Box 18. Relevant definitions – Task (11)........................................................................................................................................................ 55 

Box 19. Relevant definitions – Task (12)........................................................................................................................................................ 56 

Box 20. Relevant definitions – Task (13)........................................................................................................................................................ 57 

Box 21. Relevant definitions – Task (14)........................................................................................................................................................ 58 

Box 22. Relevant definitions – Task (15)........................................................................................................................................................ 60 

Box 23. Relevant definitions – Task (16)........................................................................................................................................................ 62 

Box 24 Critical grid situation definition ........................................................................................................................................................... 68 

78 

 
 
 
List of figures 

Figure 1. Changes based on Article 35(2) of the Electricity Regulation 2019/943 ................................................................5 

Figure 2. ENTSO-E Incident Classification Scale (ICS) ...............................................................................................................................7 

Figure 3. ENTSO-E member and observer member countries..............................................................................................................9 

Figure 4. Synchronous areas of Europe divided in regional groups (RG) ................................................................................... 10 

Figure 5. Organogram of ENTSO-E’s System Operations Committee and its Steering Groups .................................. 11 

Figure 6. Energy Community membership map ........................................................................................................................................ 15 

Figure 7. Med-TSO membership map .............................................................................................................................................................. 16 

Figure 8. UCTE area split on 4 November 2006. ...................................................................................................................................... 17 

Figure 9. Five core RSC services .......................................................................................................................................................................... 18 

Figure 10. RCC and RSC coverage map .......................................................................................................................................................... 20 

Figure 11. System Operation Regions (SORs) in Europe (EU) ........................................................................................................... 22 

Figure 12. EU Member States divided in Capacity Calculation Regions (CCRs) ..................................................................... 24 

Figure 13. Bidding Zones (BZs) in Europe and borders between Member States' BZs ..................................................... 25 

Figure 14. Capacity Calculation Regions (CCRs), Bidding Zones (BZ) and Bidding Zone Borders (BZBs) in 
Europe .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 26 

Figure 15. Operational planning timeframes .............................................................................................................................................. 27 

Figure 16. Overview of different timeframes of the wholesale and balancing markets ............................................... 28 

Figure 17. Visual representation of RCC tasks ........................................................................................................................................... 31 

Figure 18. Coordinated capacity calculation process example ........................................................................................................ 35 

Figure 19. Coordinated security analysis process example ............................................................................................................... 38 

Figure 20. Creation of common grid model process example ......................................................................................................... 42 

Figure 21. Balancing services according to the system envisaged by ENTSO-E .................................................................. 48 

Figure 22. A frequency drop and the reserve activation structure ............................................................................................... 48 

Figure 23. Example of the STA week-ahead process ............................................................................................................................ 52 

Figure 24. Quantitative metrics in the power system adequacy calculations ....................................................................... 52 

Figure 25. Example of the OPC process ......................................................................................................................................................... 54 

Figure 26. ENTSO-E’s System Development regions. Each region is covered by one Regional Investment Plan.
 .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 59 

Figure 27. High-level information flow between adequacy assessments in different time horizons .................... 63 

Figure 28. Approval procedure for existing/ new RCC task(s) ........................................................................................................... 65 

Figure 29. Implementation of task in the RCC business ...................................................................................................................... 66 

79 

 
 
 
List of tables 

Table 1. Five dimensions of the Energy Union. ..............................................................................................................................................4 

Table 2. General categories of RCC tasks depending on their purpose. .........................................................................................5 

Table 3. Countries participating in Regional Groups................................................................................................................................ 11 

Table 4. European RCCs and RSC ........................................................................................................................................................................ 18 

Table 5. List of RCC tasks ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 29 

Table 6. Coordinated capacity calculation task summary ................................................................................................................... 33 

Table 7. Coordinated security analysis task summary .......................................................................................................................... 37 

Table 8. Classification of contingencies .......................................................................................................................................................... 38 

Table 9. Examples of TSOs remedial actions .............................................................................................................................................. 39 

Table 10. Creation of common grid models task summary .............................................................................................................. 41 

Table 11. Supporting the TSOs in defence and restoration plans’ consistency assessment task summary ...... 43 

Table 12. Process of regional coordination, in accordance with Article 6 of ERR Regulation 2017/2196 ........... 44 

Table 13. Supporting the TSOs in the coordination of regional restoration task summary .......................................... 45 

Table 14. Post-operation and post-disturbances analysis and reporting task summary ............................................... 46 

Table 15. Regional sizing of reserve capacity task summary .......................................................................................................... 47 

Table 16. Facilitating the regional procurement of balancing capacity task summary ................................................... 49 

Table 17. Short-term adequacy (STA) assessment task summary ............................................................................................... 50 

Table 18. Regional outage planning coordination (OPC) task summary .................................................................................... 53 

Table 19. Supporting the TSOs in the inter-transmission system operators’ settlement task summary ............. 55 

Table 20. Training and certification of RCC staff task summary ................................................................................................... 56 

Table 21. Tasks related to identification of regional electricity crisis scenarios summary ........................................... 57 

Table 22. Identification of needs for new transmission capacity and supporting the ten-year network 
development plan (TYNDP) task summary ..................................................................................................................................................... 58 

Table 23. Calculation of the maximum entry capacity for foreign capacity task summary ......................................... 60 

Table 24. Tasks related to the seasonal adequacy assessments summary ........................................................................... 62 

Table 25. European legislative framework ................................................................................................................................................... 81 

80 

 
 
 
 
 
Annex 

No.  Type 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

Regulation 

Regulation /  
Network Code (Market) 

Regulation /  
Network Code (Market) 

Regulation /  
Network Code (Operations) 

Regulation /  
Network Code (Market) 

Regulation /  
Network Code (Operations) 

7 

Regulation 

8 

9 

Regulation 

Regulation 

10  Directive 

11 

Decision / 
Methodology 

Table 25. European legislative framework 

Entity 

Year/Number 
Number/Year 

Links 

Full name 

In the Report 

EC 

EC 

EC 

EC 

EC 

EC 

EC 

EC 

EC 

EC 

2013/347 

Link

Guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure 

2015/1222 

Link 

Guideline on capacity allocation and congestion 
management 

CACM Regulation 

2016/1719 

Link 

Guideline on forward capacity allocation 

FCA Regulation 

2017/1485 

Link 

Guideline on electricity transmission system operation 

SOGL Regulation 

2017/2195 

Link 

Guideline on electricity balancing 

Balancing 
Regulation 

2017/2196 

Link 

Network code on electricity emergency and restoration 

ERR Regulation 

2019/941 

Link

Risk-preparedness in the electricity sector and repealing 
Directive 2005/89/EC 

2019/942 

Link

Establishment of European Union Agency for the 
Cooperation of Energy Regulators 

2019/943 

Link

Internal market for electricity 

Risk-
preparedness 
Regulation 

ACER Regulation 

Electricity 
Regulation 

2019/944 

Link

Common rules for the internal market for electricity and 
amending Directive 2012/27/EU 

Electricity 
Directive 

ACER 

07/2019 

Link 1 
Link 2 

Decision (Link 1) on the all TSO’s proposal for the/ and 
Methodology (Link 2) for coordinating operational 
security analysis 

/ 

81 

12 

Decision /  
Methodology 

13 

14 

15 

Decision /  
Methodology 

Decision /  
Methodology 

Decision /  
Methodology 

16 

Decision /  
Methodology 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

Decision /  
Methodology 

Decision /  
Methodology 

Decision /  
Methodology 

Decision /  
Technical specifications 

Decision /  
Definition 

Decision /  
Methodology 

ACER 

08/2019 

ACER 

07/2020 

Link 1 
Link 2 

Decision (Link 1) on the all TSO’s proposal for the/ and 
Methodology (Link 2) for assessing the relevance of 
assets for outage coordination 

Link 1 
Link 2 
Link 3 

Decision (Link 1) on/ and Methodology (Link 2) for 
Identifying Regional Electricity Crisis Scenarios (Annex I 
and II – Link 3) 

ACER 

08/2020 

Link 1 
Link 2 

Decision (Link 1) on/ and Methodology (Link 2) for Short-
term and Seasonal Adequacy Assessments 

ACER 

11/2020 

Link 1 
Link 2 

Decision (Link 1) on/ and Methodology (Link 2) for a list 
of standard products for balancing capacity for 
frequency restoration reserves and replacement reserves 

ACER 

19/2020 

ACER 

23/2020 

Link 1 
Link 2 

Decision (Link 1) on/ and Methodology (Link 2) on the 
common and harmonised rules and processes for the 
exchange and procurement of aFRR balancing capacity 
for the Nordic LFC Block 

Link 1 
Link 2 

Decision (Link 1) on/ and Methodology (Link 2) for 
calculating the value of lost load, the cost of new entry, 
and the reliability standard 

ACER 

24/2020 

Link 1 
Link 2 

Decision (Link 1) on/ and Methodology (Link 2) for the 
European resource adequacy assessment (ERAA) 

ACER 

35/2020 

ACER 

36/2020 

ACER 

04/2021 

ACER 

07/2021 

Link 1 
Link 2 

Link 1 
Link 2 

Link 1 
Link 2 

Link 1 
Link 2 

Decision (Link 1) on/ and Methodology (Link 2) for 
coordinated redispatching and countertrading for the 
Core CCR (RDCT Methodology – Annex I to II) 

Decision (Link 1) on/ and Technical specifications (Link 2) 
for cross-border participation in capacity mechanisms 

Decision (Link 1) on/ and the Determination (Link 2) of 
Capacity Calculation Regions 

Decision (Link 1) on/ and Amendment (Link 2) of the 
Methodology for Coordinating Operational Security 
Analysis 

82 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

 
 
23 

Decision / 
Methodology 

24 

Decision / 
Methodology 

25 

Decision / 
Review 

26 

27 

28 

29 

Decision / 
Methodology 

Decision / 
Definition 

Decision / 
Methodology 

Decision / 
Methodology 

ACER 

11/2021 

ACER 

14/2021 

Link 1 
Link 2 

Link 1 
Link 2 

Decision (Link 1) on/ and Methodology (Link 2) for the 
market-based allocation process of cross-zonal capacity 
for the exchange of balancing capacity for the Core CCR  

Decision (Link 1) on/ and Long-term capacity calculation 
methodology (Link 2) of the Core capacity calculation 
region 

ACER 

02/2022 

Link 1 
Link 2 
Link 3 

Decision (Link 1) on the European Resource Adequacy 
Assessment (ERAA) for 2021; Detailed ERAA 2021 
Review (Link 2); Summary of Recommendations (Link 3) 

ACER 

04/2022 

ACER 

05/2022 

ACER 

07/2022 

ACER 

13/2022 

Link 1 
Link 2 

Link 1 
Link 2 

Link 1 
Link 2 

Link 1 
Link 2 

Decision (Link 1) on/ and Methodology (Link 2) on the 
Regional Coordination Centre Post-Operation and Post-
Disturbances Analysis and Reporting Methodology 

Decision (Link 1) on/ and the Definition (Link 2) of 
System Operation Regions (+Annex Ia-V) 

Decision (Link 1) on the Regional Coordination Centre 
Training and Certification of Staff Methodology (Link 2) 

Decision (Link 1) on/ and Methodology (Link 2) for the 
Optimisation of Inter-TSO Settlements related to 
Redispatching and Countertrading 

30 

All TSO’s proposal / 
Methodology 

ENTSO-E 

2018 

Link

31 

All TSO’s proposal / 
Methodology 

ENTSO-E 

2018 

Link

Methodology for building the common grid models;  
All TSOs’ proposal for a common grid model 
methodology in accordance with Articles 67(1) and 70(1) 
of Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1485 - SOGL. 

Methodology for coordinating operational security 
analysis; 
All TSOs’ proposal for a methodology for coordinating 
operational security analysis in accordance with Article 
75 of Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1485 - SOGL. 

32 

Implementation guide 

ENTSO-E 

2019 

Link 

Coordinated capacity calculation implementation guide 

83 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

33 

Implementation guide 

34 

Implementation guide 

35 

36 

Implementation guide 

Implementation guide 

37  Network Code (Cybersecurity) 

38  Methodology 

39 

Review 

40 

Specification 

41  Methodology 

42 

Implementation monitoring 
report 

43 

Library 

44 

Explanatory note 

45 

Guideline 

46 

Implementation guideline 

47 

Implementation guideline 

48 

Proposal 

49 

Proposal 

ENTSO-E 

ENTSO-E 

ENTSO-E 

ENTSO-E 

ENTSO-E 
EU DSO E 

ENTSO-E 

ENTSO-E 

2021 

2021 

2021 

2021 

2022 

/ 

/ 

ENSTO-E 

2022 

ACER 

/ 

ACER 

ENTSO-E 

2021 

/ 

ENTSO-E 

2020 

ENTSO-E 

2022 

ENTSO-E 

ENTSO-E 

ENTSO-E 

2023 

2023 

2022 

Link

CACM list of information to ACER implementation guide 

Link 

Link 

Link 

Link 

Link

Link 

Link 

Link 

Link

Link 

Link 

Link 

Link 

Link 

Link 

Short term adequacy forecasts (STA) implementation 
guide 

Outage planning coordination implementation guide 

CGMA data exchange implementation guide 

Network Code for cybersecurity aspects of cross-border 
electricity flows (NCCS) 

Capacity Calculation Region (CCR) Methodologies 

Bidding Zone Review (BZR) 

Coordinated Security Analysis (CSA) Data Exchange 
Specification  

Latest approved redispatching and countertrading 
methodologies of the respective CCRs 

Implementation Monitoring Report of the Network Code 
on Emergency and Restoration 

Emergency & Restoration National Implementation 

Short-term and Seasonal Adequacy Assessments 
Methodology – Explanatory note 

3rd ENTSO-E Guideline for cost-benefit analysis of grid 
development projects 

Implementation Guidelines for TYNDP 2022 based on 
3rd ENTSO-E guideline for cost benefit analysis of grid 
development projects 

Implementation Guidelines for System Needs Study 
ENTSO-E Proposal for the Regional Coordination Centres’ 
task ‘regional sizing of reserve capacity’  
ENTSO-E proposal for the Regional Coordination Centres’ 
task “Facilitating the regional procurement of balancing 
capacity” 

ENTSO-E 

2022 

Link 

Source: JRC analysis, 2023. 

84 

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/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

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