Alstom and Unicorn Systems win TenneT contract for major electricity market management solution

Alstom and Unicorn Systems have been selected to provide a flexible energy market management solution for TenneT, one of the top five Transmission System Operators and the first cross-border operator in Europe. The five-year contract replaces a legacy infrastructure that currently supports all of TenneTs electricity market operations. 

Since 2011, the European Union has been transitioning towards a single, unified electricity market. The goal is to empower European consumers to choose between different electricity suppliers, while enabling a wider range of companies to enter the energy market. To better align with new market dynamics, TenneT has elected to institute a new infrastructure, one that is modular and comprehensive enough to support a complex Market Management process. The solution facilitates energy trade while ensuring network stability and security. It sends information from energy companies to TenneT, who then ensures that energy demand and production is always in balance. 

Alstom and Unicorn Systems, combining their expertise in Market Management Systems (MMS) and large complex information technologies, successfully created an interoperable joint solution to manage the network. Highly flexible, the solution allows TenneT to efficiently adapt to the technical and regulatory transformations of the market, such as the integration of renewable energy. It is fully up to date and compliant with recent grid standards and ENTSO-E[1] processes, which enable coordination and grid development within the European Network.  

The modular infrastructure will support the entire market management operation from scheduling processes, to imbalance management, to settlement[2] all while maintaining optimal service and adaptability to future market conditions. As part of the tendering process, Alstom and Unicorn Systems demonstrated that their joint solution is well in line with our business needs, and their energy IT technologies and domain expertise well-suited in the realm of an active European electricity market,  said Peter Hoffmann, Senior Manager System Operations of TenneT. 

Alstom and Unicorn Systems will also provide data migration, training of TenneT employees and technical support by knowledgeable and experienced staff. Alstom is proud to work alongside Unicorn Systems, and be chosen by TenneT to deliver a best-in-class IT solution for the Netherlands electricity market. Our experts have experience in delivering energy market systems all across US, Europe and Asia Pacific, said Patrick Plas, Senior Vice President of Power Electronics & Automation, Alstom Grid. 

It is a tremendous accomplishment for Unicorn Systems to succeed in this competitive tender for the largest transmission system operator. At present, we are working on many projects which are critical for the integration of European energy markets, said Jan Konrád, International Services Director, Unicorn Systems. 

About Alstom

Alstom is a global leader in the world of power generation, power transmission and rail infrastructure, setting the benchmark for innovative and environmentally friendly technologies. Alstom builds the fastest train and the highest capacity automated metro in the world, provides turnkey integrated power plant solutions and associated services for a wide variety of energy sources, including hydro, nuclear, gas, coal and wind, and it offers a wide range of solutions for power transmission, with a focus on smart grids. The Group employs 93,000 people in around 100 countries. It had sales of over 20 billion and booked close to 24 billion in orders in 2012/13. 

Alstom Grid has one clear vision: to develop innovative solutions for a flexible, reliable, affordable and sustainable electrical grid, everywhere. We design, manufacture, install and service the power transmission and distribution products and systems that empower the planets low carbon economy... for now and for the future.

Alstom Grid has over 130 years experience and ranks among the top three in the electrical transmission sector with an annual sales turnover of more than 4 billion. Alstom Grids 19,000 employees are spread across 88 manufacturing and engineering sites worldwide and have one common mission: be our customers trusted partner, from the source to the city.

We are energising a smarter world with Alstom.

www.alstom.com/grid

About Unicorn Systems

Unicorn Systems is a renowned European company providing the largest information systems and solutions in the area of information and communication technologies. We have focused on providing high added value and a competitive edge to our clients for many years. We have been operating on the market since 1990 and since then we have created a series of high-end large-scale solutions that are extended and used among the most important companies in a variety of sectors. We have the best references from the banking, insurance, telecommunications, energy, industry, commerce and public sectors. Our customers are not only the largest companies but also market leaders. We have detailed knowledge of the entire spectrum of all business sectors. We understand the principles of their operation as well as comprehend the specific needs of our customers.

Our extensive team of systematically educated experts perfectly masters all current product lines, components, technology, and therefore we have essentially no technological restrictions. Even though we enforce a lot of revolutionary ideas in our work, the overall delivery of proven solutions are subject to fundamental criteria - quality, scope, term and budget.

 

More press releases published by Unicorn Systems are available here: www.unicornsystems.eu

 TenneT

TenneT is the first cross-border transmission grid operator for electricity in Europe. With around 20,000 of high-voltage and extra-high-voltage lines and 36 million end users in the Netherlands and Germany we are one of the top-5 grid operators in Europe. Our focus is on the development of the energy market in north-western Europe and on the integration of renewable energy sources.
Taking power further

  

Contacts presse

Alstom

Aline Besselièvre / Elizabeth Wang (Alstom Grid) -  Tel : +33 1 49 01 67 60 / 61 23

aline.besselievre@alstom.com / Elizabeth.wang-ext@alstom.com

Sonia Thibaut - Tel : +32 714 45 611 - sonia.thibaut@alstom.com

[1] ENTSO-E:  European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity represents all electric Transmission System Operators (TSOs) in the EU and others connected to their networks, for all regions, and for all their technical and market issues. ENTSO-E ensures better collaboration between the TSOs in a number of key areas, such as the development of technical and market-based grid codes and the coordination of system operation and grid development.

 

[2] The imbalance management and settlement process settles discrepancies between: the amount of electricity that a company has contracted to generate or consume (adjusted for any accepted Bids and Offers in the Balancing Mechanism) and the amount of electricity which the company actually generated or consumed.

Due to the nature of electricity, generators may generate more or less energy than they have sold; customers of suppliers may consume more or less energy than their Supplier has purchased on their behalf and traders may buy more or less energy than they have sold. In such circumstances, these Parties are regarded as being in imbalance and the energy imbalances (i.e. the amounts of energy generated or consumed and not covered by contracts) have, in effect, been bought or sold.