Candidate for Project of Common Interest Status.
The TUNE project will increase controllability and strengthen the power networks in Slovenia, Slovakia and Hungary.
Challenges
The power grids of Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia are due to their geographical positions acting as the key electricity corridors between the Central West, Central East and South-East European regions. Their trading and security influences can be further observed in a broader Pan-European long-distance Internal Energy Market (IEM) activity, particularly in the North-South and East-West directions. Such status required the TSOs from all three member states to undergo extensive grid investment programs in the past, and this will continue in the future.
The challenges of the rapid increase in renewable energy generation on the inter-member state level, as well as on the European level, as well as the synchronisation of Ukraine's relatively large power system to the European grid, are extraordinary. The increased volatility of power and electricity trading flows with frequencies spanning from the minute to the hour, a day, or a week is a phenomenon that is not easily manageable. Because of this phenomenon, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia are even more exposed to this phenomenon due to their corridor status.
The single market activity in this part of the EU electricity grid is further intensified due to the influences on the cross-sector level between the electricity and gas sectors. The corridor is serving additional Electricity trading activity due to the increased volatility of Power generation supplied by natural gas and the supply challenges on the gas infrastructure. The role of hydrogen in the future is not completely clear yet, but there are clear indications that it will play an essential role in the transmission infrastructure reinforcement.
The partners on this project from Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia have recognised that a coordinated approach to strengthening and stabilising their electrical corridors with advanced infrastructure investments that would allow for their systems to be operated with functions beyond the traditional grid infrastructure could create remarkable benefits and synergies for a broader range of stakeholders.
Benefits
The key exploitable benefits of this project are therefore:
- Increasing the penetration and use of renewables across the EU, thereby addressing the need for electrification by allowing regional market players to participate in the pan-European electricity market.
- Support exports to Ukraine concerning the tight demand-supply balance of CEE Member States during evening hours.
- Stabilising the transmission grid and the market to adapt more quickly to the drop in solar infeed and increase in demand in the evening hours.
- Equalizing the price differences between the south-eastern, central-eastern, and central-western EU price zones could reduce system-wide costs; the target is to reduce the actual de-correlation of prices.
Increasing the flexibility of the European grid aligns with the findings of the ENTSO-E System Flexibility Needs for the Energy Transition’s study, which states that “interconnectors will play a crucial role in mitigating flexibility needs across various timeframes”. It also reacts to the EU Action Plan for Grids, which envisages that respective stakeholders and decision-makers should act towards improving (not only) grid infrastructure. Enhanced cross-border trading potential between regions will significantly reduce the need for flexibility resources.”
Scope
- Power control systems (phase shifting devices) on up to four locations on 220 kV and 400 kV grids in Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
- Implement high-temperature line technologies on the Slovenian part of the cross-border overhead line 220 kV Divača-Padriciano.
- Establish new MV grid connections for the future charging stations near the highways with an added control system.
- Platform for advanced forecasting of load and distributed generation in near real-time.
Project Profile
- Partners: ELES, Mavir, SEPS
- Duration: 2026 - 2031
- Value: approximately 300 million EUR