The EU does not have a truly seamless electricity transmission system in place yet. Borders still matter when system planning, expansion and operation are at stake. This fact has a negative consequence on the achievement of the European goals in the field of electricity. Three core pillars, currently missing, must be addressed by national and European policy-makers to move forward: coordination of actions and decisions, sharing of benefits and costs, and solidarity beyond costs and benefits. The importance of this pillars is apparent when considering two issues that have become particularly critical in the last few years: redispatching actions and electricity crisis management. If the three missing pillars are not taken seriously, issues like those of redispatching and crisis management can transform in insurmountable roadblocks on the path towards the establishment of a single market for electricity with high levels of security of supply and a low carbon generation mix.
Peer-to-peer and peer-to-X open a new world of transactions in the electricity sector. This world is characterised by the active involvement of new players, both small in size and nonprofessional in nature, and by new combinations of the activities carried out behind and in front of the meter. Peer-to-peer refers to transactions in which both the seller and the buyer are small in size and non-professional, whereas peer-to-X refers to transactions where only the seller is small and non-professional while the buyer is a different type of actor. Observations from the world of practice reveal the existence of multiple forms of peer-to-peer and peer-to-X transactions. The first part of this contribution illustrates those variants, by providing a sample of concrete implementation cases coming from liberalised electricity systems. The review shows the importance of three components that are essential to the functioning of this new world of transactions and which are discussed in the second part of the contribution. They are: a) the transaction loop, as small players cannot sell or buy from other peers so easily; b) the pricing mechanism, as existing wholesale and retail markets exert pressure on incentives for activating peers; and c) the delivery loop, as peers must deliver via existing grids and system operators, except when trading entirely within private networks.
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