Introducing the Essential Services of Critical Infrastructure The Electricity Market Operator – the invisible service without which the energy sector could not function
The Critical Infrastructure Association of the Slovak Republic is presenting a series of articles that gradually introduce the individual essential services listed in Annex No. 1 of Act No. 367/2024 Coll. on Critical Infrastructure. In each article, we explain the significance of a specific essential service, the range of entities it concerns, the main risks associated with its provision, and the new obligations arising from current legislation.
Essential Service Under the Law
Sector: Energy
Subsector: Electricity
Category of entities: Electricity market operators pursuant to § 3(b)(13) of Act No. 251/2012 Coll. on Energy, as amended
Essential service: Electricity market operator service
Central authority: Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic
What Is the Electricity Market Operator Service?
When people talk about the energy sector, most imagine power plants, transmission lines, distribution companies, or electricity suppliers. In the background, however, operates an entity without which a liberalized electricity market could not function – the electricity market operator.
It is precisely this essential service that ensures transparent trading in electricity, the settlement of deviations between planned and actual electricity generation or consumption, the financial settlement of individual market participants, and the management of extensive data flows essential for the functioning of the entire electricity system.
The category of entities providing this essential service consists of electricity market operators pursuant to § 3(b)(13) of Act No. 251/2012 Coll. on Energy – that is, entities holding a licence to operate as a short-term electricity market operator.
In the Slovak Republic, this activity is carried out by OKTE, a.s., which was founded in 2010 as a subsidiary of the transmission system operator SEPS. Since 2011, it has fulfilled the role of short-term electricity market operator and has gradually taken over additional important tasks related to market organization and electricity settlement.
What Does This Essential Service Include?
The electricity market operator ensures a wide range of specialized activities without which a modern electricity market could not function. These include, in particular:
- organizing the short-term electricity market,
- registering and keeping records of market participants,
- settling deviations between planned and actual electricity generation or consumption,
- the financial settlement of market participants,
- administering support for electricity generation from renewable energy sources and high-efficiency combined generation,
- managing data and exchanging information among electricity producers, traders, electricity suppliers, the transmission system operator, distribution system operators, flexibility aggregators, and other market participants.
These processes run continuously and to a high degree automatically. Their reliability is essential for the stability of the entire electricity market.
Why Is This Service So Important?
Electricity is one of the few commodities in which generation and consumption must be kept practically constantly in balance. Every deviation must be precisely evaluated and financially settled.
It is precisely the market operator that ensures that this balance can be continuously monitored and fairly evaluated among all market participants.
Without this service, it would not be possible to ensure transparent trading in electricity, the efficient functioning of the market, or stable financial relationships among producers, traders, suppliers, and other market participants.
Points of Interest and Specifics
Although the market operator is one of the least visible links in the energy sector, its importance is constantly growing.
Its information systems process enormous amounts of data on trading, generation, consumption, and electricity settlement every day. The market today operates in 15-minute trading intervals, which places significantly higher demands on automation, computing capacity, and data quality than in the past.
Several hundred electricity market participants are directly linked to the market operator's activities – producers, suppliers, traders, the transmission system operator, regional distributors, flexibility aggregators, battery storage operators, ancillary service providers, and other specialized market participants.
At the same time, the market operator ensures the integration of the Slovak market into the single European electricity market, thereby contributing to more efficient cross-border trading and greater security of supply.
What Risks Are Associated With Providing This Service?
From the perspective of critical infrastructure, the market operator is among the entities highly dependent on digital technologies.
The most significant risks are:
- cyberattacks,
- outages of information systems,
- disruption of data centers,
- failure of communication networks,
- damage to or loss of data,
- failures of critical software,
- vulnerability of the information technology supply chain,
- dependence on cloud services and external technology partners.
For this very reason, risk management, business continuity, and supply chain security are among the most important areas that critical entities will have to address intensively under the Critical Infrastructure Act.
The New Requirements Do Not Concern Only the Market Operator
One of the most significant changes introduced by the new Critical Infrastructure Act is the emphasis on the security of the entire supply chain.
This means that the increased requirements will apply not only to the electricity market operator itself, but also to the companies that supply it with products or services essential for providing the essential service.
This concerns, in particular, suppliers of:
- information technology,
- software solutions,
- cloud services,
- data centers,
- telecommunications services,
- cybersecurity solutions,
- energy technologies,
- physical protection systems,
- analytical, consulting, and auditing services.
These suppliers, too, will increasingly be subject to risk assessments by critical entities and will have to demonstrate their ability to ensure reliable and secure provision of services.
What Does the Critical Infrastructure Association of the Slovak Republic Offer?
The Critical Infrastructure Association of the Slovak Republic creates a professional platform for organizations operating in the energy sector as well as in other critical infrastructure sectors.
It offers electricity market operators, their suppliers, and other partners methodological support in implementing legal requirements, expert consultations, training, conferences, working groups, legislative services, and a space for exchanging experience among professionals from both the public and private sectors.
Membership in the association is open not only to entities providing the essential service of the electricity market operator, but also to their suppliers of information technology, cybersecurity, telecommunications solutions, energy technologies, physical protection systems, data centers, cloud services, consulting companies, and other organizations that contribute to ensuring the reliable functioning of the energy infrastructure.
Building the resilience of critical infrastructure is no longer the task of individual organizations. It requires cooperation among the state, critical entities, their suppliers, and the professional community. The Critical Infrastructure Association of the Slovak Republic is a partner for those who want to successfully meet the new legislative requirements and actively contribute to increasing the resilience of the Slovak Republic.
