Category: Nemo News

Nemo Link celebrates another outstanding performance in the extraordinary year of 2020

< Back to index 12th January 2021

It’s fair to say 2020 was an extraordinary year for the world and for Nemo Link, the first ever UK- Belgium interconnector in its second year of operation, it has also marked another outstanding year of performance despite its challenges.

Highest availability of its kind

The Nemo Link Interconnector celebrates the end of 2020 with 99.17% availability, continuing to be one of the highest performing assets of its kind in the world. In 365 days of continuous operation, Nemo Link only had 6 hours of unplanned outages and 67 hours of planned maintenance work, even with all planning and execution right in the middle of a pandemic. In 2020, Nemo Link had 2 periods of operating with no interruption at all (198 days in Q1 & Q2 and 99 days in Q4). On safety, Nemo Link had no accidents on site over the year and more importantly, the interconnector managed to operate safely and efficiently with all essential COVID safety measures in place.

Commercial achievement

On the commercial front, it has been a busy year for the team preparing for Brexit to ensure a smooth transition following GB’s departure from the EU’s Internal Energy Market. This includes operational system and procedure readiness to extensive engagement with customers, regulators and stakeholders. On 31^st December 2020, Nemo Link successfully ran its 1^st explicit day ahead auction, ensuring power continued to flow between GB and Belgium without any interruption in the new trading arrangement. With 62% of its capacity already having been locked in at solid prices for 2021, Nemo Link was heading into 2021 with a good start.

2020 was also the first full year that Nemo Link has run its Intraday product with hourly nomination gates. Nemo Link’s intraday product allows our customers to quickly react to volatility after day-ahead market closure and 19th April 2020 was a particularly good example of its impact. On the day, solar production in Belgium fell significantly below the day-ahead forecast, resulting in a short Belgian system and imbalance prices of up to 359€/MWh. Nemo Link’s intraday customers reacted by reducing exports to GB, thereby helping to restore the demand-supply balance.

After the first full year of successful operations, Nemo Link also reviewed its observed losses and announced the new Loss Factor which was lowered from 2.6% to 2.372%, effective from September 2020. This has been highly received by our customers as it brings more efficiency for every Megawatt that they intend to flow on the Interconnector.

In summary, it’s been an exceptional year providing the market with world class asset availability, a wide product mix, a reliable trading and nomination system, and a strong customer focus which has rewarded Nemo Link with another outstanding 86% customer rating for Ease-of-doing-business. We aim to continually improve and have a strong foundation from which to build.

Customs declarations post Brexit

< Back to index 14th December 2020

Following GB’s departure from the IEM on 1st January 2021, we wish to inform you of the changes that will take place on customs declarations when trading electricity between GB and Belgium.

Great Britain:
In the UK, Nemo Link will make import/export declarations on behalf of market participants for flows on the Nemo Link Interconnector. There are therefore no further actions market participants need to take in the UK.

Belgium:
We were informed that in Belgium, network operators are not permitted to make customs declarations and therefore all market participants will need to make their own customs declarations to the Belgian authorities. According to the information provided to us, market participants that are non-EU registered can only make customs declarations through an EU customs agent or other EU-based affiliate.

We have translated from Dutch a recent communication from the Belgian customs authorities in relation to customs:

IMPORT AND EXPORT OF NATURAL GAS AND ELECTRICITY THROUGH FIXED INSTALLATIONS

INTRODUCTION
Goods imported or exported through a system of pipelines or high-voltage lines, referred to in the Code as 'fixed installations', are subject to a number of customs simplifications.
They are always considered as being under Union transit. Presentation to customs is also deemed to have been completed. In addition, they are exempt from the summary declaration,
the temporary storage procedure and the provision of a guarantee.
However, this does not mean that there can be an exemption from the customs declaration.

THE TRANSIT PROCEDURE AND THE OBLIGATIONS OF SYSTEM OPERATORS
The operators of the permanent establishments may use the legal fiction which considers that the goods have been placed under Union transit.
A registration in NCTS is therefore not necessary. The Customs Code also exempts these movements:
- The entry summary declaration (ENS)
- Provision of a security
- Bringing under the Temporary Storage Scheme

The scheme is deemed to be terminated when an operator declares the volumes of gas or electricity through an entry in the records (see below).

LODGING THE CUSTOMS DECLARATION
The import and export via fixed installations is in reality a continuous process. That is why it is advisable to comply with the declaration formalities by means of an entry into the declarants records (EiDR).
After registration, the goods can be released for free circulation or exported.
In order to make the declaration process final, one global declaration of type Z must be submitted monthly or, if necessary, weekly for each operator.
The possibility to submit these globalised declarations is part of the EiDR authorisation.

WHO HAS TO DECLARE THESE GOODS?
Customs legislation does not provide for any derogations in this respect. The declaration must be made by the users of the network and not by the operators.
A customs representative can carry out the formalities on behalf of these operators using the EiDR authorisation.

AUTHORISATION EIDR
Explanatory notes and the application forms for the EiDR authorisation can be found on the website of the customs authorities.
Please note that although the criteria for obtaining the authorisation partly coincide with the conditions for the authorisation Authorised Economic Operator (AEO),
holding an AEO authorisation is not necessary for obtaining EiDR.

Further information on the authorisation for Entry in the Declarant’s Records (EiDR) in Belgium can be found here.

Customs Agents and Fiscal representation

If you require a Belgian-based EU customs agent, we can recommend the following customs agents that could potentially assist you further in this matter.

ALS Customs Services N.V. Please contact Danny Proost (dproost@als-cs.com) for further assistance.
Remant Customs. Please contact Dietwin Rossaert (dietwin.rossaert@remant.be) for further assistance.

We can also recommend a fiscal representative (dirk.aerts@dnacustoms.be) that works together with Remant Customs and that could act as fiscal/customs expert.

If you require any further information or assistance, as always, please do not hesitate to contact the Customer Team.

Updated Planned Outage 23 September 2020

< Back to index 23rd September 2020

Nemo Link is pleased to announce that our planned outage this week will be shortened as follows:

Start Time	Start Date	End Time	End Date	Interconnector Capacity
07:00 (CEST)	21/09/2020	23:00 (CEST)	23/09/2020	0 MW
12:00 (CEST)	25/09/2020	15:00 (CEST)	25/09/2020	0 MW

As a result, the additional planned outage time between 23:00 CEST 23 September 2020 until 23:00 CEST on 24 September 2020 as previously communicated will not be used and therefore, all available capacity will be offered to the market via the Single Day-Ahead Market Coupling and to the Intraday Auctions where applicable for delivery from 23:00 CEST 23 September 2020.

Please be advised that the outage on 25 September 2020 between 12:00 CEST and 15:00 CEST will remain in place.

The changes to the programme have been notified on the REMIT page of the BMREPORTS website. Please note that all timings are in GMT on the REMIT portal.

If you have any questions, please contact the Customer Team.

Planned Outage w/c 21st September 2020

< Back to index 18th September 2020

Starting from Monday 21 September 2020, please be informed that Nemo Link will carry out its maintenance programme for 2020 as follows:

Start Time	Start Date	End Time	End Date	Interconnector Capacity
07:00 (CEST)	21/09/2020	23:00 (CEST)	24/09/2020	0 MW
12:00 (CEST)	25/09/2020	15:00 (CEST)	25/09/2020	0 MW

There will be no capacity offered to the market via the Single Day-Ahead Market Coupling or to the Intraday Auctions during the planned outage.

Any changes to the programme will be notified on the REMIT page of the BMREPORTS website. Please note that all timings are in GMT on REMIT portal.

For all of our Maintenance Programmes, please visit here.

If you have any questions, please contact the Customer Team.

1st CAL2021 annual auction on the GB-BE border

< Back to index 3rd September 2020

Nemo Link will be holding its first annual auction capacity in both directions for calendar year 2021 on 7th and 8th September 2020 on the eCAT Auction Platform from the Joint Allocation Office.

Below you can find key information that may be helpful in preparation for the auction.

Physical firmness:

We would like to confirm that in the event of an unplanned outage on the Nemo Link Interconnector, the final nominations (nominated capacity for which the final nomination gate and Day-ahead firmness deadline has passed) will continue to be treated as physically firm.

Offered Capacity:

GB-BE	BE-GB
100 MW	100 MW

Auction Window:

Auction start time	Auction end time
07/09/2020 12:00 CEST	08/09/2020 12:00 CEST

Planned Outage:

Nemo Link published its planned maintenance period for 2021 as follows:

Start Time	Start Date	End Time	End Date	Interconnector Capacity
07:00 (CEST)	20/09/2021	23:00 (CEST)	26/09/2021	0 MW

All Nemo Link’s planned maintenance schedules can be found on the Maintenance Programme Publications area on our website.

Loss Factor:

Please note that the new Nemo Link Mid-point loss factor is now 2.372% (previously as 2.6% prior to 01/09/2020 ).

Collateral in place:

Please note that in order to be able to place bids in the annual auction, market participants are required to have in place collateral amounting to 1/12 of the highest value of bids (price x volume) entered for the annual product.

Further information on credit calculation can be found in JAO’s Information System Rules (appendix 6, 7 & 8).

If you have any questions, please contact the Customer Team.

Nemo Link announces its new Loss Factor effective from 1 September 2020

< Back to index 2nd July 2020

After the first full year of successful operations, Nemo Link has reviewed its observed losses and is now pleased to announce the new Loss Factor on the Nemo Link Interconnector.

Effective from Delivery Day 1 September 2020 at 00:00 CEST, Nemo Link Interconnector’s Mid-Point Loss Factor will be lowered from 2.600% to 2.372%. The Mid-Point Loss Factor is the loss factor that is used in Nemo Link’s Access Rules (see Annex Business Rules for Nemo Link paragraph 3) and Nemo Link’s Border Specific Annex.

Nemo Link’s Mid-Point Loss Factor

2.600%

Effective until 23:59 CEST 31/08/2020

2.372%

Effective from 00:00 CEST 01/09/2020

Nominations at Nemo Link’s importing and exporting end for a specific mid-interconnector nomination are calculated using the Mid-Point Loss Factor (LF) as follows:

Importing end nomination = mid-interconnector nomination * (1-LF/2)
Exporting end nomination = mid-interconnector nomination * (1+LF/2)

UIoSI compensations for non-nominated Long Term Transmission Rights equal the loss adjusted day ahead market spread (LADAMS) as follows:

If GBDAMP > BEDAMP, LADAMS = (1-LF/2)*GBDAMP – (1+LF/2)*BEDAMP
If BEDAMP > GBDAMP, LADAMS = (1-LF/2)*BEDAMP – (1+LF/2)*GBDAMP
(GBDAMP: GB Day ahead market price BEDAMP: BE Day ahead market price)

Full details on UIoSI compensations can be found on the Nemo Link’s Border Specific Annex (see chapter 3).

The mid-interconnector reference capacity will decrease from 1013 MW to 1012 MW in regular operation and from 1033 MW to 1032 MW in overload operation. Nemo Link’s Capability remains 1000 MW at the importing end.

Further information can be found on the Nemo Link Loss Factor document published on the Publications area.

Nemo Link announces its new Intraday Nomination timings

< Back to index 1st May 2020

At Nemo Link, we highly value feedback from customers and always seek for improvements on our products and services.

Following recent conversations with our customers, we are now increasing intraday nomination gate opening times from 45 minutes to 50 minutes. This would mean that capacity holders intending to nominate intraday transmission rights could do so up to 70 minutes ahead of delivery instead of the current 75 minute lead time. Therefore, Nemo Link customers will now be able to further optimise their positions to respond to rapidly changing market conditions.

Nemo Link intends to implement the change from the first nomination gate for delivery day 5^th May, meaning Nomination Gate 1 will close at 22:50 CEST on 4^th May 2020. An updated summary of the Nemo Link intraday auction and nomination times can be found here.

So within 6 months of successful intraday operations, Nemo Link is proud to make changes quickly to adapt to customer feedback and needs.

We would like to thank our customers for their valued feedback and we welcome suggestions from all market participants to continue to improve Nemo Link’s products and services.

Nemo Link Immune to Corona Virus

< Back to index 2nd April 2020

We hope you are keeping well during these uncertain times. Despite the troubling period and implications of the Covid-19 pandemic, here at Nemo Link we have taken the necessary precautions and are confident we are able to operate throughout this unprecedented crisis providing added system security to onshore grids and continued trading opportunities for our customers. We will still be running auctions so even if you’re working from home, don’t forget to bid! The Customer Team is also working from home, but remains on hand to answer any questions you may have.

Nemo Link published its updated planned outage

< Back to index 1st April 2020

Nemo Link today published its updated Planned Outage for September 2020.

For all Nemo Link’s planned outages, please visit the Maintenance Programme under Publications area.

Nemo Link celebrates strong performance in its first full year of operation

< Back to index 4th February 2020

Nemo Link, the first ever power cable between the UK and Belgium, has today reported outstanding performance figures as it celebrates its first full year of operation.

The subsea cable has been available to import or export power more than 96% of the time in the last 12 months, making it one of the highest performing assets of its kind in the world.

Stretching 140 km from Bruges on the Belgian side to Richborough in Kent, Nemo Link is a joint venture between the Belgian transmission system operators Elia and National Grid in the UK. It began operating on January 31, 2019, offering a range of products that enable energy traders to move electricity back and forth between the two countries. This provides additional options and flexibility for the Belgian and UK electricity markets.

The Nemo Link cable has a capacity of 1,000 megawatts. It was also the first subsea HVDC project in the world to use cross linked polyethylene (XLPE) cable technology. Flows have been primarily in the direction of the UK. 5889.4 GWh were exchanged in the direction of the UK against 175.9GWh in the direction of Belgium.

Intraday nomination gates

On November 14th 2019, Nemo Link launched an Intraday Capacity product being the first channel interconnector to offer hourly nomination gates. The capability to balance the grid closer to real time operations is beneficial for market participants as it allows them to take unexpected changes in consumption and production into account.
This new product has immediately proven successful in December when the Tihange’s (BE) nuclear reactor (1 GW) stopped functioning (37 hours) and Belgian energy production was low. This created an imbalance peak. With Nemo Link the interconnector was therefore able to offer quick solutions to rebalance the positions thanks to its technical flexibility and its offer of products that allow reacting in real time.

“We’ve seen in the last year how Nemo Link has used innovative new technology to bring significant benefits to Belgian and British energy consumers. By enabling the market to react immediately to rapid changes in supply and demand, Nemo helps to better balance an energy system that is more reliant on intermittent wind and solar energy. In the coming years, interconnectors like Nemo will play an increasingly important role as we look to share renewable energy resources across borders to help the UK and Europe get to net zero carbon emissions by 2050.”
Jon Butterworth, President of National Grid Ventures

“We are delighted to mark our one-year anniversary by announcing that the Interconnector Nemo Link has performed exceptionally well. The advanced technology used for this cable is unprecedented in the world, we have designed and provided a resilient and efficient interconnection which guarantees available power when needed.”
Markus Berger, Director of Infrastructure at Elia

Highest availability of its kind

Commercial achievement

Customs Agents and Fiscal representation

Nemo Link’s Mid-Point Loss Factor

2.600%

2.372%

Intraday nomination gates

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