Cross-border power transmission capacity from the Netherlands into Belgium has been curtailed for Tuesday due to operational issues with near record wind forecast for Germany, according to a note on transmission system operator platform JAO Monday.
Unscheduled loop flows often stemming from high wind in Germany are a key risk to the Belgian grid, which faces an unprecedented supply situation with only one of seven reactors currently online.
"The long-term allocated capacity [ATC] for delivery date 23/10/2018 on the corridor from the Netherlands to Belgium has been curtailed to ensure operation remains within Operational Security Limits," the note said.
The curtailments start from hour 13 to hour 23 and range between 272 MW and 647 MW, rising toward Wednesday.
The note did not give any specific reason.
In addition to the explicit long-term ATC, auctioned annually and monthly, TSOs also calculate daily implicit transmission capacity through the flow-based market coupling mechanism and assigned to the daily spot power auctions in an implicit auction.
Last week, Belgium signed an agreement with Germany to ease technical restrictions and maximize flows into Belgium.
This week will be a first test for those emergency procedures with wind forecast to peak above 30 GW in Germany on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to forecasts.
Belgian TSO Elia estimates average loop flows of 840 MW crossing Belgium in a North-South direction with internal bottlenecks within Belgium making imports from France more efficient.
