German Transmission System Op-erators (TSOs) Transnet BW (the former EnBW Transportnetze), 50Hertz Transmission, Am-prion and TenneT together with Swiss TSO Swissgrid will perform

March 1nd 2012 – Bayreuth, Berlin, Dortmund, Stuttgart. German Transmission System Op-erators (TSOs) TransnetBW (the former EnBW Transportnetze), 50Hertz Transmission, Am-prion and TenneT together with Swiss TSO Swissgrid will perform the first joint cross-border call for tenders for primary control power on March 6th 2012 at 3 p.m. The call for tenders will be performed via the German TSOs’ internet platform http://www.regelleistung.net according to German rules and will be open for all prequalified German and Swiss market parties. The call for tenders from March 6th 2012 will cover a total of 592 MW primary control power with de-livery from March 12th to March 18th 2012. The market parties will be able to place their offers already from March 2nd 2012, 12 a.m. The planned joining of the two national markets for primary control power aims at a sustained improvement of the corresponding market struc-tures, an enhancement of the competition and in the long term a related decrease of the re-spective acquisition costs.
In a first step, swissgrid will cover up to 25 MW of the Swiss primary control power demand through the joint call for tenders. The remaining Swiss demand of currently 43 MW will still be covered by a subordinated Swiss-internal call for tenders. Swissgrid will participate in the formerly German-only call for tenders as 5th TSO and will take the responsibility for connec-tion, contracting and settlement of the Swiss market parties.
The project establishing the joint call for tenders has been initiated by TransnetBW and Swissgrid with a feasibility study involving the national regulation authorities. The stepwise joining of the Swiss market enables market participants and TSOs to gain experience with regard to the impact of a joint call for tenders on the market, which makes it possible to as-sess and selectively control further steps.
If the practical experiences are in accordance with the expectations, the further development to a joint cross-border call for tenders for primary control power covering 100% of the Swiss demand of actually 68 MW is foreseen in the medium term. Additionally, a joint call for ten-ders for primary control power including other foreign TSOs is considered as well.
After the already successful entry of Swissgrid into the International Grid Control Cooperation (IGCC) on March 1st 2012, the joint German-Swiss call for tenders for primary control power further strengthens the cooperation between German TSOs and Swissgrid. Both projects are a substantial contribution to the development and facilitation of cross-border markets for con-trol energy and entail a further optimization related to the acquisition and utilization of control energy.