Our history : from past to present
As a regulated monopoly, the majority of RTE revenue is determined by transmission system access pricing (TURPE), the details of which are defined by the Energy Regulator (CRE). These price regulation principles provide RTE and its customers with stability and forward-looking perspectives over a period of several years.
Key dates
2000: Creation of RTE
Our mission: to maintain, operate and develop the electricity transmission network in a strictly equitable and non-discriminatory manner for all players in the power system. The aim: to prepare for the opening up of the electricity market. We are now an independent department of EDF, with separate management, accounting and administration.
2000: A new market mechanism for electricity supply-demand balance
In autumn 2000, we introduce a mechanism enabling market players to carry out any type of commercial transaction on the electricity market. The aim is to reduce discrepancies between forecast and actual production and consumption schedules.
2001: an electricity exchange
We take part in the creation of Powernext, an electricity exchange designed to open up the French market.
2002: Launch of a program to mechanically secure the network
Following the violent storms of 1999-2000, we launched a vast program of mechanical securing, which will be completed in 2017. Three-quarters of the work has already been completed, with a dual objective: to reinforce the infrastructure and maintain the power supply to all substations in the event of winds equivalent to those of 1999. As a result, the climatic events of winter 2013-2014 had no significant impact on the network. In all, RTE will have spent 2.4 billion euros on securing its network mechanically.
2003: the balancing mechanism is born
RTE designs the balancing mechanism, a tool for economic and technical optimization of the power system. As close as possible to demand, RTE directly calls on the producers and consumers connected to the network to rapidly modify their operating schedule upwards or downwards, and selects the most economically and technically attractive offer. This is an effective solution for dealing with power system contingencies, such as the sudden shutdown of a power generation unit.
2005: Creation of a separate legal structure
RTE becomes a limited company, a subsidiary of the EDF Group. This change is linked to the opening up of the French electricity market. Our obligation to remain independent of EDF was reaffirmed, and our neutrality towards all electricity producers was guaranteed by our articles of association.
2006: Market coupling
Along with Belgium and the Netherlands, France pioneered the implementation of electricity market coupling to facilitate price convergence over large areas. Since then, market coupling has been extended throughout Europe. It now covers France, Germany, Benelux, Great Britain, Scandinavia, Spain and Portugal.
2008: Launch of Coreso, the 1st technical coordination center
Following the blackout in November 2006, which plunged part of Europe into darkness, we founded Coreso in collaboration with our Belgian counterpart Elia. The aim? To strengthen operational cooperation between transmission system operators and enhance power security in Europe by providing security analyses to member countries' transmission systems, from the day before to the day after, and on a continuous basis. Coreso now brings together the French, Belgian, British, German and Italian transmission system operators.
2013: Commissioning of the Cotentin-Maine line
This 400,000-volt overhead line, 163 km long, secures the power supply to the Greater West of France. It will enable the power generated by the Flamanville EPR and by offshore wind and tidal farms (renewable marine energy) to be fed into the transmission grid. Cotentin-Maine represents: €343 million of investment, 7 years of consultation and just over a year of construction work, a technical feat.
2014: Making load shedding competitive
The rules validated by the Commission de Régulation de l'Energie (CRE) in December 2014 mark the end of the NEBEF experiment. From now on, this innovative scheme will enable consumers or shaving operators to sell their “consumption shaving” directly on the electricity market.
2015: Multiplying the benefits of renewable generation
RTE connects Cestas: Europe's largest photovoltaic farm. Operated by Neoen, the 300 MW Cestas photovoltaic farm can produce up to 350 GWh per year, thanks to a million photovoltaic panels. To integrate this renewable production into the power system, RTE has created a 225,000 volt substation and two underground lines of the same power rating over a distance of 1.6 km between the new substation and the production site.
Today...
We pursued our mission by directing the flow of electricity on the network at all times, to guarantee maximum security of supply at the lowest possible cost for our customers and the community. We maintained the power transmission network throughout France. To meet the needs of our customers and the community at large, we have strengthened and upgraded the network, developing underground links, accommodating wind and photovoltaic energy, and building cross-border links with our European neighbors.
And what about tomorrow?
Since its creation, RTE has been constantly striving to improve and optimize its tools in order to offer its customers safe, economical and clean access to electrical energy. Today, we are preparing the network of tomorrow. There's no shortage of projects: extending market coupling to southern European countries, deploying New Generation substations, using drones to maintain certain infrastructures, making greater use of load shedding... To be continued.
