Exchange capacity

Minimum, average and maximum hourly commercial exchange capacity by cross-border connection

MW

In 2021, the cross-border connection with France registered a high utilisation rate, most of the time in the direction from France to Spain (62 % of the hours), a figure that is similar to that of 2020.

In 2021, a high utilisation rate of the France cross-border connection was registered, most of the time in the direction from France to Spain (62 % of the hours), a figure that is similar to that of 2020. The average utilisation rate of the cross-border capacity during 2021 stood at 81.9 %. The change in the direction of the balance towards an exporter is generally due to two causes: the surplus of renewable energy in the Spanish system or high prices in France, generally due to the high non-availability of its nuclear power stations. This first scenario occurred in February, where there were 576 hours with an export balance with an average capacity utilisation of 87.3 %. The second scenario was the one that has occurred most in the last two months of the period, with France reaching a maximum hourly price of 620 €/MWh. In those last months, the average utilisation of exchange capacity reached a value of 80.7 %.

The average utilisation rate of the exchange capacity of the Morocco interconnection changed last year, exporting 14 % in 2021 compared to 24 % the previous year, while imports stood at 24 % compared to 13 % the previous year. The interconnection was used for only 38.1 % of the hours, compared to 37,1 % the previous year.

The average utilisation of the interconnection two-way energy flows (import-export) in 2021 was 13.9 % while in 2020 it was 12 %. If only days are taken into account when scheduled exchanges were programmed, the average utilisation rate in 2021 was 36.5 %, compared to 32 % in 2020, but still far from the 50.5 % registered in 2019.

Average utilisation rate of commercial exchange capacity by cross-border connection