The Single Electricity Market (SEM) on the island of Ireland is undergoing a radical transformation arising from the need to facilitate the development of a pan-European electricity market and common arrangements for trading electricity. The project to implement these revised arrangements is referred to the as the I-SEM project. The I-SEM will take the wholesale electricity market to a new level of operational effectiveness and efficiency by making best use of on the resources of the system, using interconnectors in the most efficient way and ensuring that market arrangements send out the right signals to existing or potential investors.
In accordance with licence modification procedures set out in article 14 of the Electricity (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 (as amended) , the Utility Regulator (UR) is to modify the existing electricity supply licences and electricity generation licences in Northern Ireland to necessitate implementation of the "I-SEM".
The UR's consultation paper describes the reasons for and effects of the licence modifications, as well as a statutory notice for the NI electricity supply licence modifications and a statutory notice for the NI electricity generation licence modifications.
In addition, the following annexes outline the legal drafting of the proposed modifications:
Annex 1 Modifications to 'standard' generator licences
Annex 2 Modifications to all supply licences including DSUs
Annex 3 Modifications to 'DSU' generator licences
Annex 4 Modifications to PowerNI/ PPB licence only
Annex 5 Modifications to AES Ballylumford Ltd licence only
The consultation period regarding these modifications closes at 17.00 on 4 July 2017. Responses should be sent to isemlicences@uregni.gov.uk or to Tony Doherty, Utility Regulator, Queens House, 14 Queen Street, Belfast, BT1 6ED.