Congestion management in Japan

Abstract

There are 10 regional Vertical Integrated Utilities in Japan, and these operate the individual regional systems. The tile-lines between adjacent utilities are used supplementary. On the other hand, Japan has stepped into next stage in its liberalization, and since April 2005 the customers who consume about 60% of total sales can choose their suppliers. There are two noteworthy elements in Japanese liberalization: a neutral organization and a wholesale power exchange. The neutral organization is unique, neither a regulator nor a system operator. The players in Japan's liberalization scheme discussed and published rules for tie-line use. There are two principles for tie-line use in Japan, upon which congestion management is based: "first come, first served," and "use it or lose it." The grid users do not need to pay for tie-line capacity allocation, but they need to pay a charge for the certain change of their plans posted to prevent intentional overestimates of capacity needs