Opening of the project to update the National Electric Transport Network Code

The National Electricity Regulatory Authority (ANRE) will soon open work to update the National Electricity Transport Network Code (CRENT). The institution must proceed on November 4 with the selection of technical expertise to support it in this operation. This will consist of carrying out a critical and in-depth analysis of the current CRENT, including technical and operational aspects, with a view to ensuring that it meets the standards of safety, reliability and efficiency of the electricity transport network.

ANRE thus seeks to modernize the technical requirements by updating the requirements for the connection of production units and by adapting the technical requirements to include production units based on modern and renewable technologies. It also involves harmonizing standards for conventional and non-conventional production units and carrying out an evaluation of new technologies with a view to integrating battery storage systems (BESS) and flexible reactive regulation systems (FACTS). ) in the technical requirements. “The development of the production park and the electricity transmission network in Morocco as well as recent technological developments in non-conventional production require the updating of all the technical elements of the CRENT, in particular for the Balancing Codes, system and defense services,” explains the Authority.

Likewise, it will be a question of defining performance criteria for these new technologies in order to guarantee their optimal contribution to the stability of the network. The update project also aims to improve the efficiency and reliability of the electrical transmission network through updating the current CRENT standards and analyzing the effectiveness of the balancing code, system and defense services. The technical expertise to be commissioned must, moreover, propose new prescriptions adapted to the current state and near future based on simulations with internationally recognized software and previously approved by ANRE.

Likewise, the technical expertise retained will guide ANRE in the integration of international best practices by carrying out international benchmarking in order to compare the best normative practices on the specifications of requirements adapted to the technologies present or planned in Morocco (onshore wind power). and marine, solar photovoltaic and CSP, BESS and Hydroelectric Wastewater Treatment Plant, etc.). The consultation will also have to compare the different normative structures for countries or regions at the forefront of the energy transition, in particular the advantages and disadvantages of the minimum, negotiable and automatic requirement level system used in Australia.

Regarding flexibility and administrative clarity, technical expertise is called upon, as part of its mission, to develop clear administrative procedures for the integration of new technologies and ensure flexibility in the norms and standards for s adapt to future technological developments by adopting as much as possible a technologically neutral approach which makes it possible to reduce the dependence of requirements on future technological developments.