UNBUNDLING AND OPENING OF THE FRENCH ELECTRICITY MARKET THE IT SUPPORT TO IMPLEMENT IT

摘要

For RTE, as the operator of France's public electricity transmission system, the IT has played a key role in ensuring independence, confidentiality and non-discrimination, enabling the company to introduce and develop the services and mechanisms needed for the smooth running of the French electricity market, within the framework of the wider European power market. The "Corporate" IT has successfully adapted to handle the rapid implementation and major changes to the perimeter covered. In addition to the basic functions of management and accounting, it also covers a wider scope that includes areas such as cash flow management, metering and billing, customer relations management and industrial maintenance. By using a standard industry software package and adopting suitable working methods (competencies centre, industrialised deliveries and operational monitoring, etc.), RTE has equipped itself with a system able to keep up with changes to the company's processes, whilst strengthening the processes applied, especially in the critical areas of metering and billing. The "Market" IT has allowed rapid development in the services offered by RTE and required for the creation of a flexible and fluid French electricity market. Based on specific developments, a solid exchange infrastructure (EAI, Front Office) and a reliable and proven Back Office, the company has been able to design and develop services that can be tailored and tweaked to suit customers' needs: the balance responsible mechanism, the balancing mechanism and the various interconnection access systems (explicit auctions, market coupling arrangements, etc.). These market and interconnection access systems will continue to develop substantially. Now, the challenges for the information system in these areas involve rolling out specialist software packages and introducing shared functions within a "mesh" of regional European systems, requiring joint development efforts with other European TSOs.