Cegeka implements future-proof Energy Identification Codes management for ENTSO-E

ENTSO-E, an association representing 40 transmission system operators from 36 countries, is instrumental in implementing the EU energy policy. To improve data exchange with Transmission System Operators (TSOs) and third-party associations, ENTSO-E needed an overhaul of their central management and communication tool.

With the adoption of the European Union’s Third Energy Package to liberalize the gas and electricity markets, the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) was created in 2009. Its goal: ensuring the efficiency and security of the pan-European interconnected power system at all times, both within the internal energy market as with interconnected countries.

To ensure efficient electronic data exchange across the European energy market, a standardized system is required for identifying various objects and entities. To this end, ENTSO-E developed a scheme known as the Energy Identification Coding (EIC) scheme. This scheme is backed by a Central Issuing Office (CIO, which is ENTSO-E), as well as authorized Local Issuing Offices (LIOs) across Europe. These LIOs are TSOs and third-party associations.

Cost and service quality

Laima Pukė, Service Provision Expert for the association, with headquarters in Brussels, explains the necessity of rewriting the old application for management of International EIC codes: “The application relied on a Microsoft SharePoint version scheduled for end of life by the end of 2024. It was also lacking in user-friendliness and offered limited customization options.”

ENTSO-E decided to develop an open-source, web-based application. They published a tender, which Cegeka won. “Cegeka achieved the highest score, excelling particularly in cost and service quality,” Pukė explains.

“Cegeka achieved the highest score on our tender, excelling particularly in cost and service quality” 

 

- Laima Pukė, Service Provision Expert at ENTSO-E

Improved data quality

Cegeka implemented a future-proof and secure application with a user-friendly interface: “Thanks to centralized user access, granting rights to LIO users has been made easier,” Pukė says.

An important enhancement is the introduction of an API (Application Programming Interface). “This made it easier LIOs to integrate data with their own systems, which was a manual process before,” Pukė explains. The API was crucial for facilitating easier data exchange and reducing costs. “It allows us to automate processes, such as the automatic generation of EIC codes, significantly reducing our administrative burden.”

Another benefit of the new system is centralized validation. “This improves data quality and allows better monitoring, reporting, and control,” Pukė says. It reduces the risk of duplicate EIC codes, simplifies and lowers the cost of support by the CIO to LIOs. “We can now resolve problems faster, and we have also received fewer support requests from LIOs.”

Open communication

Pukė is impressed by the transparency demonstrated by Cegeka during their collaboration. “I experienced open communication, which greatly reinforced my trust in Cegeka. If something was not going according to plan, Cegeka always communicated openly about it, initiating a meeting to collaboratively address the issue. They never revised objectives downward and they made it clear that they wanted to solve every issue together.” Another pleasant surprise is the proactive involvement of Cegeka’s upper management when there were any issues or misunderstandings, Pukė notes: “This demonstrated to me that Cegeka is a highly mature organization.”

The project concluded successfully with a deployment in December 2023, but Cegeka remains responsible for ongoing maintenance and support. While the CIO/LIO application was the first collaboration between ENTSO-E and Cegeka, it certainly isn’t the last. “Cegeka later secured another tender for an infrastructure project,” Pukė says, “taking over Azure cloud management for the ENTSO-E Transparency Platform.”

“Cegeka never revised objectives downward and they made it clear that they wanted to solve every issue together” 

 

- Laima Pukė, Service Provision Expert at ENTSO-E