Electricity Market (Amendment) Regulations, 2012

L.N. 132 of 2012

MALTA RESOURCES AUTHORITY ACT

(CAP. 423)

Electricity Market (Amendment) Regulations, 2012

IN exercise of the powers conferred by article 28(1) of the Malta

Resources Authority Act, the Minister for Resources and Rural

Affairs, after consultation with the Malta Resources Authority, has

made the following regulations:-

The title of these regulations is the Electricity Market Citation.

(Amendment) Regulations, 2012, and these regulations shall be read

and construed as one with the Electricity Market Regulations,

hereinafter referred to as "the principal regulations".

Sub-regulation (6) of regulation 13 of the principal Amends

regulations shall be substituted by the following sub-regulation

regulation 13 of

the principal

regulations.

"(6) Enemalta Corporation shall be responsible for

dispatching generation plant and for balancing the distribution

system. Enemalta Corporation shall also be responsible for

ensuring the availability of any necessary ancillary services, as

may be prescribed by the Authority. The Authority may instruct

Enemalta Corporation to develop in accordance with regulation

21, subject to its approval and prior to their entry into force and

within such time as it may determine

(a) rules for scheduling and criteria for

dispatching that take into account contractual obligations

including those which derive from the tendering

specifications, public service obligations, economic

precedence of electricity from available generating

installations and the technical constraints on the system;

and

(b) rules for balancing the electricity distribution

system and for the charging of system users of their

networks for energy imbalance and balancing services.

Terms and conditions, including rules and tariffs, for the

provision of such services shall be cost reflective

Provided that, in any case, such instructions shall be issued

within one month from the receipt of an application by the first

producer other than Enemalta Corporation, for an authorisation

to construct a generator that is subject to dispatch

Provided further that the Authority shall verify that these

rules are objective, transparent and non-discriminatory.".

Regulation 25 of the principal regulations shall be

amended as follows

(a)

sub-regulation (5) thereof shall be renumbered as

sub-regulation (4); and

(b) immediately after sub-regulation (4) thereof, there

shall be added the following new sub-regulations

"(5) The distribution system operator shall take

the appropriate steps to develop transmission and

distribution grid infrastructure, intelligent networks,

storage facilities and the electricity system, in order to

allow the secure operation of the electricity system as it

accommodates the further development of electricity

production from renewable energy sources, including

interconnection between Member States and between

Member States and third countries. The Authority shall

also take appropriate steps to accelerate authorisation

procedures for grid infrastructure and to coordinate

approval of grid infrastructure with administrative and

planning procedures.

(6) Where appropriate, the Authority may require

the distribution system operator to bear, in full or in part,

the costs referred to in sub-regulation (2). The Authority

shall review and take the necessary measures to improve

the frameworks and rules for the bearing and sharing of

costs referred to in sub-regulation (2) by the 30 June 2013

and every two years thereafter to ensure the integration of

new producers as referred to in that sub-regulation.

(7) The sharing of costs referred in sub-

regulation (2) shall be enforced by a mechanism based on

objective, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria

taking into account the benefits which initially and

subsequently connected producers as well as distribution

system operators derive from the connections.

(8) The Authority shall ensure that the charging

of distribution tariffs does not discriminate against

electricity from renewable energy sources, including in

particular electricity from renewable energy sources

produced in peripheral regions, such as island regions, and

in regions of low population density.".

€0.18