General

The demand for capacity at the transmission interconnections between Austria and the Czech Republic, Hungaria, Slovenia, Italy and Switzerland is usually much higher than the available capacity. In order to obtain maximum transparency in the allocation of this transmission capacity and to avoid discrimination in allocating capacities, auctions for allocating transmission capacities on these cross border interconnectors will be held. The auction covers the reservation of available capacity at the transmission interconnections.

The auctioning of the reservation of the capacity aims at providing a transparent method of congestion management.

The responsible transmission system operator will carry out the auctions of the yearly and monthly available transmission capacities for both sides. The auctions will be conducted by the Auction Office on behalf of the TSO (except Austrian-Slovenian border and Austrian-Italian border). In addition there will be auctions for daily available capacities on the Czech-Austrian border and on the Hungarian-Austrian border, which are organised by CEPS and MAVIR respectively.

Czech Republic: Auctions for yearly and monthly capacities for the year 2007 will be held by APG and CEPS in order to ensure that reservations of capacity will be valid for each side of the interconnection congestion, starting with the auction for the yearly capacities for the year 2007 on November 30, 2006. APG and CEPS will carry out the transmission services according to the respective auction results in compliance with the legal requirements of grid access and possible electricity import bans.

Hungary: Auctions for yearly and monthly capacities for the year 2007 will be held by APG on behalf of APG and MAVIR in order to ensure that reservations of capacity will be valid for each side of the interconnection congestion, starting with the auction for the yearly capacities for the year 2007 on November 24, 2006. APG and MAVIR will carry out the transmission services according to the respective auction results in compliance with the legal requirements of grid access and possible electricity import bans.

Slovenia: Auctions for yearly and monthly capacities for the year 2007 will be held in order to ensure that reservations of ATC will be valid for each side of the Interconnection. Auctions for yearly and monthly ATC will be held both by APG via Auction Office. The auction for the yearly ATC for the year 2006 is held on December 1, 2007. APG will carry out the transmission services according to the respective auction results in compliance with the legal requirements of grid access, possible electricity import bans and applicable market rules.

Italy: Auctions for yearly and monthly ATC for the year 2007 will be held in order to ensure that reservations of ATC will be valid for each side of the Interconnection. Auctions for yearly and monthly ATC will be held both by APG via Auction Office. The auction for the yearly ATC for the year 2007 is held on December 22, 2006. APG will carry out the transmission services according to the respective auction results in compliance with the legal requirements of grid access, possible electricity import bans and applicable market rules.

Switzerland: Auctions for yearly and monthly ATC for the year 2007 will be held in order to ensure that reservations of ATC will be valid for each side of the Interconnection. Auctions for yearly and monthly ATC will be held both by APG via Auction Office. The auction for the yearly ATC for the year 2007 is held on November 24, 2006. APG will carry out the transmission services according to the respective auction results in compliance with the legal requirements of grid access, possible electricity import bans and applicable market rules.

The available capacity for reservation is determined by the transmission system operators in accordance with technical rules, applicable laws and regulations. The available capacity for reservation shall be offered in yearly auction procedures. The remaining capacity shall then be offered for reservation in monthly auction procedures. The remaining capacity after the monthly auction shall then be offered for reservation in daily auction procedures. The daily auction will be organised by CEPS and MAVIR respectively.

The Auction office informs the market participants about the available capacity for the reservation for the yearly and the monthly allocation procedure on its website.

Yearly Auction
The auction in which the reservation of capacity for annual electricity transports from January 1 through December 31 of the following calendar year is auctioned.

Monthly Auction
The auction in which the reservation of capacity for monthly electricity transports from the first through the last day of the following calendar month is auctioned.

Definitions:
In the first stage, yearly and monthly auctions will be held for the reservation of the capacity in both directions.

Auction 1 deals with the import capacity to Austria
Auction 2 deals with the export capacity from Austria

Generally, the capacity is offered in the auctions in form of the following products:

Baseload
Capacity from 00:00 to 24:00 (CET) , Monday to Sunday.

Peakload
Capacity from 08:00 to 20:00 (CET) commencing on January 2, 2007; work days from Monday to Friday; see Annex 3 of the specific Auction Rules.

The capacity will be obtained for every hour of the selected period.

The auction procedures and regulations are construed in accordance with the regulations set out by the respective law and by the responsible Regulatory Authorities. The auctions deal with the reservation of capacities at the common interconnection congestion lines.

Successful bidders are only entitled to assert their right of making available the reserved capacity according to these regulations. Through the purchase of reservation of capacity, a successful bidder will become entitled to use the reserved capacity independent of the actual use and physical flows. Pursuant to applicable Austrian law APG may be forced to refuse demands for services of electricity transport due to domestic requirements in order to fulfill domestic demands.