East and Central European Policy on Electricity Infrastructure, Interconnections and Electricity Exchanges (TR 113)

The East and Central European networks comprise the Unified Power System (UPS) and national power systems of the former USSR and COMECON European countries. Radical changes have already taken place in the economic management and asset holdings of these systems, including moves towards privatisation. Questions were raised on whether the UPS concept should be preserved and extended and how such joint operation can be re-established under new market regimes. It is evident that realisation of the concept will be dependent on regional energy supply/demand balances, coupled with systematic expansion planning according to economic and structural development criteria.

The challenges are immense, and it is imperative that the necessity and needs of proposed expansion plans are properly recognised. Implicit in such development strategies is the necessity of techno-economic audits to assign rehabilitation priorities before addressing the rational use of energy resources according to best technology. All of these issues were discussed at the Panel Session, and have appeal in the wider (global) context as structural changes in power supply gain momentum around the world. This provides the justification for a special IEEE PES Publication to enable the session papers to be published.