On July 1, a meeting was held of the multilateral working group on REMIT implementation in electricity and gas markets in Ukraine, organized by USAID ESP and the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission (NEURC), which was also attended by representatives of NEC Ukrenergo, Market Operator and GTS Ukraine Operator LLC.
The purpose of the meeting was to get acquainted with ESP’s “road map” for the implementation of REMIT-related IT infrastructure in electricity and gas markets in Ukraine.
Ashley King, Energy Officer of the USAID Ukraine Office of Economic Growth, stressed the importance of consensus among all participants on key issues of REMIT implementation to ensure competition, integrity and transparency in energy markets. “Important issues include the development of terms of reference for relevant IT systems, as well as their functionality; preparation of internal organization for compliance with the requirements of REMIT; future tariff methods to support quality competition, integrity and transparency monitoring,” said Ashley King.
Olga Babiy, a member of the NEURC, expressed the expectation that the law introducing REMIT in Ukraine would be adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by the end of the year, after which within the next six months the NEURC will develop secondary legislation necessary for the law’s implementation. Olga Babiy expressed concern that the biggest problem lies in non-readiness of the NEURC to properly process the data that the regulator will receive from market participants. Ms. Babiy addressed the ESP with a request to “concentrate on the development of IT solutions and their testing.” “Methodologically, we are ready for the implementation of REMIT, we are not technically ready,” said Olga Babiy.
Lucian Palade and Pedro Cespedes, experts from the consulting company Mercados-Aries International, presented an overview of the responsibilities of electricity and gas operators in relation to REMIT. In their presentation, they spoke about the responsibilities for market monitoring and supervision under the 3rd Energy Package and EU Regulation 1227/2011 (REMIT), as well as the information to be provided by electricity and gas operators.
Under the leadership of USAID ESP expert Alex Golas, the participants discussed the development of further measures and a road map for the implementation of REMIT and relevant IT systems in Ukraine.
Alex Golas stressed the need to take the following steps in the framework of the road map for REMIT implementation:
- develop terms of reference for the market surveillance system of the Regulator (NEURC), and registered reporting mechanisms for electricity and gas Operators,
- sign a collective memorandum of understanding on the future roadmap for implementation of IT systems specifically, and of REMIT in general,
- start internal preparation of operators for their compliance with REMIT requirements,
- development by ESP of IT systems individually for each signatory of the memorandum of understanding.
USAID ESP Chief Electricity Expert Roman Dorosh, who moderated the event, reminded about the second anniversary of the launch of a new model of the wholesale electricity market in Ukraine. “The implementation of REMIT will require coordination from all participants in the process, the proper division of their individual responsibilities, and the development of certain IT solutions,” he said, expressing the readiness of ESP to provide the necessary assistance to these processes.