Single Electricity Market
The trading arrangements referred to above remained in place until the establishment of the SEM (Single Electricity Market) on 1 November 2007 across the island of Ireland. The SEM is the wholesale electricity market for the island and was put in place by the two regulators north and south (NIAUR in Northern Ireland and CER in the Republic), working in cooperation with the two Governments and the electricity industry.
The SEM allows for generators to sell their electricity into a "central pool" and for electricity suppliers to purchase their electricity out of this pool. The SEM is designed to ensure that the most efficient electricity plants are run first (in the absence of any network contraints).
The SEM is regulated by the SEM Committee - this is a cross jurisdictional body made up of the two regulatory authorities (the RA's) and an independent member.
Full details of the design of the SEM, the SEM Committee and its regulatory decisions can be found on the Regulators website for the SEM - www.allislandproject.org
Market Operator
The SEM is operator by SEMO - Single Electricity Market Operator. SEMO is a joint venture between EirGrid, the TSO for Ireland and SONI, the TSO for Northern Ireland. SEMO publishes details of market operation on its website, including information on the half hourly wholesale electricity prices in the market.
To view the SEMO website, please click on either of the links below:
www.sem-o.com
www.allislandmarket.com