Judgment of the General Court Second Chamber, Extended Composition, 15 February 2023, Austrian Power Grid AG and Others v ACER, T-607/20

• Date: 15 February 2023
• Year: 2023

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Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber, Extended Composition), 15 February

2023, Austrian Power Grid AG and Others v ACER, T-606/20

Link to the full text of the judgment

Energy – Internal market in electricity – Framework for the implementation of the European platform for

the exchange of balancing energy from frequency restoration reserves with automatic activation –

Procedure for the adoption of terms, conditions and methodologies – Rejection of the joint proposal of

the system operators – Competence of ACER – Error of law – Rights of the defence – Obligation to state

reasons

Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber, Extended Composition), 15 February

2023, Austrian Power Grid AG and Others v ACER, T-607/20

Link to the full text of the judgment

Energy – Internal market in electricity – Framework for the implementation of the European platform for

the exchange of balancing energy from frequency restoration reserves with manual activation –

Procedure for the adoption of terms, conditions and methodologies – Rejection of the joint proposal of

the system operators – Competence of ACER – Error of law – Rights of the defence – Obligation to state

reasons

European Commission Regulation 2017/2195

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on electricity balancing provides for the

implementation of several European platforms for the exchange of balancing energy. Those platforms

include, first, the European platform for the exchange of balancing energy from frequency restoration

reserves with automatic activation (‘the aFRR platform’) and, secondly, the European platform for the

exchange of balancing energy from frequency restoration reserves with manual activation (‘the mFRR

platform’).

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In accordance with the procedure set out in Regulation 2017/2195,

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all transmission system

operators (‘TSOs’) have submitted for approval by the national regulatory authorities (‘the NRAs’)

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common methodology proposals for the implementation of the aFRR platform and the mFRR

platform.

Following a joint request by the NRAs, the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER),

under that regulation,

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took a decision on those proposals, as amended following exchanges and

consultations between ACER, the NRAs and the TSOs. Thus, ACER adopted two decisions, one on the

aFRR methodology and the other on the mFRR methodology (‘the ACER decisions’), to which the

methodologies in question, as amended and approved by ACER, were attached as an annex.

Austrian Power Grid, ČEPS, a.s., Polskie sieci elektroenergetyczne S.A., Red Eléctrica de España SA, RTE

Réseau de transport d’électricité, Svenska kraftnät, TenneT TSO BV and TenneT TSO GmbH brought

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Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2195 of 23 November 2017 establishing a guideline on electricity balancing (OJ 2017 L 312, p. 6).

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Articles 20 and 21 of Regulation 2017/2195, respectively.

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Article 20(1) and Article 21(1) of Regulation 2017/2195.

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Article 5(1) and (2)(a) of Regulation 2017/2195.

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Article 5(7) of Regulation 2017/2195.