The 1000 MW BritNed undersea power interconnector between Maasvlakte near Rotterdam and the Isle of Grain in the Thames estuary represents a significant increase in the interconnection capacity between Great Britain and the continent.
BritNed offers considerable opportunities and benefits to the region. It significantly contributes to the diversity and security of electricity supply in Britain and the Netherlands. APX has played a key role in the development of the BritNed trading arrangements, with the BritNed Interconnector being the first to offer market coupling arrangements into the GB power market, via the APX DA power market auctions in GB and NL.
The various market coupling developments have meant that APX, in close co-operation with its partners, has developed a high level of expertise for market integration in all aspects: design, ICT, and daily operations of Market Coupling.
Advantages of European Integration
- Increased liquidity and trading volume
- Robust and trustworthy price indices
- Access to trading participants across Great Britain, NW Europe and the Nordic regions
- Strengthened competition in each country
- Lower barriers for small players to trade
Facts & Figures
- Cable length 260 kilometres
- Cable capacity 1000 MW
- Connection between Maasvlakte (NL) and the Isle of Grain (UK)
- Operational since March 2011
- First market coupling project linking GB with Continental Europe, in line with the European Target Model
- APX trading members continue to bid into their local auction markets
- Trades automatically match across borders to the extent capacity is available
- APX is the central counterparty to all implicit trades