"Regions can speed up the delivery of the Energy Union to customers", said Bente Hagem, ENTSO-E Chair of the Board in the margins of ENTSO-E's first regional conference in Vilnius, Lithuania which gathered close to 300 delegates.  "For less market distortions and an optimal use of the grid, we need a two-strand approach: on one hand, more alignment of member states' policies on capacity mechanisms or renewables support schemes, and on the other, more cooperation among transmission system operators", adds Bente Hagem.

ENTSO-E thus proposes the creation of Policy Regions for the policy discussions and Functional Areas for the technical cooperation. "The EU network codes, Europe's new technical rulebook, define the functional areas", said Peder Andreasen, ENTSO-E President, referring to the existing Capacity Calculation Regions and the Regional Security Coordinators. "The TSOs are adapting fast and developing regional cooperation to ensure customers see the benefits in security of supply, market and renewables integration".

The Policy Regions could be developed to cover all of Europe building on several good examples including those in the Nordics and around the Baltic Sea, like BEMIP for example. "The TSOs at national level and ENTSO-E for the European dimension could then support the Policy Regions with technical analysis and advice", concluded Konstantin Staschus, ENTSO-E Secretary-General.

Speakers at ENTSO-E's Baltic Power Conference, including ministers in the region, discussed interconnections of the Baltics, the Nordics and Poland, the further integration of the Baltic and Nordic markets, and the question of the synchronous and asynchronous connections of the Baltic power system with the other parts of Europe.

The next ENTSO-E regional conferences will take place in Bratislava, Slovakia, on 23 September, focusing on Central Europe, and Thessaloniki, Greece, on 3 November, on South Eastern Europe.

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