The Competition Authority carried out supervisory proceedings concerning the activities of Elektrilevi OÜ in connection with the problem that arose in Hiiumaa, where producers could not connect to the network1 . In January 2022 Elektrilevi OÜ announced publicly that due to network restrictions in Hiiumaa, they will refuse to issue connection offers to producers who want to provide their output to the network. The Competition Authority found that Elektrilevi still has to issue connection offers in Hiiumaa, despite the occurrence of network restrictions.
The strong growth of distributed production in recent years shows that, thanks to the green revolution, we have entered a new era in network development, where network operators have to plan the network and network management differently than before. This means that, in addition to specific network reinforcements, the ability to manage the network flexibly must be developed, the local use of which should enable more distributed production to be added to the region. At the same time, investments in network development must continue to be socio-economically justified.
First of all, the Competition Authority recommended Elektrilevi OÜ to acquire local flexible network management products in an accelerated manner, develop the capability of remote control of production modules, which would enable flexible connection to connectees, create opportunities for the creation of energy communities in order to use distributed production primarily to cover local community consumption, and start a 10-year network development plan based on the Electricity Market Act that would also take into account the use of flexibility services.
1 https://www.konkurentsiamet.ee/sites/default/files/news-related%20files/hiiumaa_jarelevalvemenetluse_aruanne_projekt_ak_eemaldatud.pdf