The European Commission is about to launch a third legislative package to create a single European electricity market this week, which could force integrated energy companies to sell their power transmission assets.

In doing so, it will launch the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), to take decisions on cross border energy supply. ACER will draft framework guidelines for the operation of cross border electricity networks, establishing rules that are consistent with these guidelines, the Commission said. Its role will be to monitor the newly managed internal European electricity market, including retail prices, available network access for electricity produced from renewable sources.

Europe wants to create an internal energy market to keep prices low and increase security of supply.

To be introduced on Thursday, its new legislation package includes two directives, one of which relates to common rules for the internal market in electricity, with associated conditions for access to the network for cross-border exchange of electricity.

European legislators are seeking to unbundle energy production and supply interests from the electricity network on the continent to prevent network operators from favouring their own energy producers and suppliers.

While the new legislation is aimed at increasing the transparency of retail markets, unbundling transmission networks may force major European renewable energy companies to sell their transmission assets. The Commission said that power producers E.ON and Vattenfall Europe have already divested their high voltage grid in Germany, while Endesa is said to have divested its transmission assets in Spain.

Member states have yet to decide whether to implement the unbundling of transmission networks through an ownership unbundling model.

newenergyworldnetwork.com