Balancing responsibility

TenneT has a system of balancing responsibility to keep the supply and demand for electricity in balance. Connected parties are responsible for informing grid operators of

• their planned electricity production
• consumption 
• transmission needs. 

If actual production and consumption deviate from the estimate, this leads to an imbalance. This can ultimately affect the reliability of the grid. Parties can set up their own measurement programmes or delegate the responsibility to recognised Balancing Responsible Parties (BRPs). 

Why is this balance important?

Parties in the Dutch energy market are free to choose with whom they want to do business. Suppliers and consumers enter into contractually regulated buying and selling relationships (delivery instructions or call-off orders). In practice, the agreed quantities may differ from what the parties actually produce or consume. This difference must be resolved so that no shortages or surpluses occur. TenneT uses a system of balancing responsibility for this purpose. 

BRPs recognised by TenneT inform TenneT on a daily basis of the transactions planned for the following day and the grids they will use for transmission. The sum total of all transactions of a BRP is called an energy programme (e-programme).  

The regional grid operators inform TenneT of the actual amount of electricity taken up and imported per BRP. The difference between the energy programme and the actual measured values constitutes the imbalance.