Regulation (EU) 2019/941 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

CHAPTER III U.K. Risk-preparedness plans

Article 10 U.K. Establishment of risk-preparedness plans

1. On the basis of the regional and national electricity crisis scenarios identified pursuant to Articles 6 and 7, the competent authority of each Member State shall establish a risk-preparedness plan, after consulting distribution system operators considered relevant by the competent authority, the transmission system operators, the relevant producers or their trade bodies, the electricity and natural gas undertakings, the relevant organisations that represent the interests of industrial and non-industrial electricity customers, and the regulatory authority where it is not the competent authority.

2. The risk-preparedness plan shall consist of national measures, regional and, where applicable, bilateral measures as provided for in Articles 11 and 12. In accordance with Article 16, all measures that are planned or taken to prevent, prepare for and mitigate electricity crises shall fully comply with the rules governing the internal electricity market and system operation. Those measures shall be clearly defined, transparent, proportionate and non-discriminatory.

3. The risk-preparedness plan shall be developed in accordance with Articles 11 and 12 and with the template set out in the Annex. If necessary, Member States may include additional information in the risk-preparedness plan.

4. In order to ensure consistency of risk-preparedness plans, competent authorities shall, before adopting their risk-preparedness plans, submit the draft plans, for consultation, to the competent authorities of the relevant Member States in the region and, where they are not in the same region, to the competent authorities of directly connected Member States, as well as to the ECG.

5. Within six months of receipt of the draft risk-preparedness plans, the competent authorities referred to in paragraph 4 and the ECG may issue recommendations relating to the draft plans submitted pursuant to paragraph 4.

6. Within nine months of submitting their draft plans, the competent authorities concerned shall adopt their risk-preparedness plans, taking into account the results of the consultation pursuant to paragraph 4 and any recommendations issued pursuant to paragraph 5. They shall notify their risk-preparedness plans to the Commission without delay.

7. The competent authorities and the Commission shall publish the risk-preparedness plans on their websites, while ensuring confidentiality of sensitive information, in particular information on measures relating to the prevention or mitigation of consequences of malicious attacks. The protection of the confidentiality of sensitive information shall be based on the principles determined pursuant to Article 19.

8. The competent authorities shall adopt and publish their first risk-preparedness plans by 5 January 2022. They shall update them every four years thereafter, unless circumstances warrant more frequent updates.

Article 11 U.K. Content of risk-preparedness plans as regards national measures

1. The risk-preparedness plan of each Member State shall set out all national measures that are planned or taken to prevent, prepare for and mitigate electricity crises as identified pursuant to Articles 6 and 7. It shall at least:

(a) contain a summary of the electricity crisis scenarios defined for the relevant Member State and region, in accordance with the procedures laid down in Articles 6 and 7;

(b) establish the role and responsibilities of the competent authority and describe which tasks, if any, have been delegated to other bodies;

(c) describe the national measures designed to prevent or prepare for the risks identified pursuant to Articles 6 and 7;

(d) designate a national crisis coordinator and establish its tasks;

(e) establish detailed procedures to be followed in electricity crises, including the corresponding schemes on information flows;

(f) identify the contribution of market-based measures in coping with electricity crises, in particular demand-side and supply-side measures;

(g) identify possible non-market-based measures to be implemented in electricity crises, specifying the triggers, conditions and procedures for their implementation, and indicating how they comply with the requirements laid down in Article 16 and with regional and bilateral measures;

(h) provide a framework for manual load shedding, stipulating the circumstances in which loads are to be shed and, with regard to public safety and personal security, specifying which categories of electricity users are, in accordance with national law, entitled to receive special protection against disconnection, justifying the need for such protection, and specifying how the transmission system operators and distribution system operators of the Member States concerned are to decrease consumption;

(i) describe the mechanisms used to inform the public about electricity crises;

(j) describe the national measures necessary to implement and enforce the regional and, where applicable, bilateral measures agreed pursuant to Article 12;

(k) include information on related and necessary plans for developing the future grid that will help to cope with the consequences of identified electricity crisis scenarios.

2. National measures shall take full account of the regional and, where applicable, bilateral measures agreed pursuant to Article 12 and shall endanger neither the operational security or safety of the transmission system, nor the security of electricity supply of other Member States.

Article 12 U.K. Content of risk-preparedness plans as regards regional and bilateral measures

1. In addition to the national measures referred to in Article 11, the risk-preparedness plan of each Member State shall include regional and, where applicable, bilateral measures to ensure that electricity crises with a cross-border impact are properly prevented or managed. Regional measures shall be agreed within the region concerned between Member States that have the technical ability to provide each other assistance in accordance with Article 15. For that purpose, Member States may also form subgroups within a region. Bilateral measures shall be agreed between Member States which are directly connected but are not within the same region. Member States shall ensure consistency between regional and bilateral measures. Regional and bilateral measures shall include at least:

(a) the designation of a crisis coordinator;

(b) mechanisms to share information and cooperate;

(c) coordinated measures to mitigate the impact of an electricity crisis, including a simultaneous electricity crisis, for the purpose of assistance in accordance with Article 15;

(d) procedures for carrying out annual or biennial tests of the risk-preparedness plans;

(e) the trigger mechanisms of non-market-based measures that are to be activated in accordance with Article 16(2).

2. The Member States concerned shall agree the regional and bilateral measures to be included in the risk-preparedness plan after consulting the relevant regional coordination centres. The Commission may have a facilitating role in the preparation of the agreement on regional and bilateral measures. The Commission may request ACER and the ENTSO for Electricity to provide technical assistance to Member States with a view to facilitating such an agreement. At least eight months before the deadline for the adoption or the updating of the risk-preparedness plan, the competent authorities shall report on the agreements reached to the ECG. If the Member States are not able to reach an agreement, the competent authorities concerned shall inform the Commission of the reasons for such disagreement. In such a case the Commission shall propose measures including a cooperation mechanism for the conclusion of an agreement on regional and bilateral measures.

3. With the involvement of relevant stakeholders, the competent authorities of the Member States of each region shall periodically test the effectiveness of the procedures developed in risk-preparedness plans for preventing electricity crises, including the mechanisms referred to in point (b) of paragraph 1, and carry out biennial simulations of electricity crises, in particular testing those mechanisms.

Article 13 U.K. Commission assessment of the risk-preparedness plans

1. Within four months of the notification of the adopted risk-preparedness plan by the competent authority, the Commission shall assess the plan taking duly into account the views expressed by the ECG.

2. The Commission shall, after consulting the ECG, issue a non-binding opinion, setting out detailed reasons, and submit it to the competent authority, with a recommendation to review its risk-preparedness plan where that plan:

(a) is not effective to mitigate the risks identified in the electricity crisis scenarios;

(b) is inconsistent with the electricity crisis scenarios identified or with the risk-preparedness plan of another Member State;

(c) does not comply with the requirements laid down in Article 10(2);

(d) sets out measures that are likely to jeopardise the security of electricity supply of other Member States;

(e) unduly distorts competition or the effective functioning of the internal market; or

(f) does not comply with the provisions of this Regulation or other provisions of Union law.

3. Within three months of receipt of the Commission's opinion referred to in paragraph 2, the competent authority concerned shall take full account of the Commission's recommendation and shall either notify the amended risk-preparedness plan to the Commission or notify the Commission of the reasons why it objects to the recommendation.

4. In the event that the competent authority objects to the Commission's recommendation, the Commission may, within four months of receipt of the notification of the competent authority's reasons for objection, withdraw its recommendation or convene a meeting with the competent authority and, where the Commission considers it to be necessary, the ECG, in order to assess the issue. The Commission shall set out detailed reasons for requesting any modifications to the risk-preparedness plan. Where the final position of the competent authority concerned diverges from the Commission's detailed reasons, that competent authority shall provide the Commission with the reasons for its position within two months of receipt of the Commission's detailed reasons.