Learn about PSE

Electricity reaches homes, businesses and institutions through the distribution network fed from the transmission network we manage. We are the only electricity transmission system operator within the territory of Poland. We care about the reliability of electricity supply to all regions of the country.

We play a key role in the development of the Polish economy. We also ensure the secure and cost-effective operation of the Polish power system as part of the common European system.

Learn about PSE

PSE as transmission system operator

Electric power transmission systems are territorially extensive and technologically complicated engineering systems managed by transmission system operators.

GRI 102-6 GRI 102-4 GRI 103-1

PSE is the only transmission system operator (TSO) in Poland, as pursuant to the Energy Law one TSO is appointed within the territory of the Republic of Poland. Our company was appointed by the President of the Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) to serve this function until 31 December 2030.

We provide electricity transmission and power system access services while maintaining the required criteria for the operational security of the Polish power system (PPS). As a TSO, our company is expected to conduct effective activities to ensure the required quality and security of electricity supply and cost-effective operation of the system. The operator's activities are determined by technological development of power transmission systems and the regulatory framework of the power sector. All this makes us an enterprise of special significance to public order and security, and of particular importance for the Polish economy.

PSE's tasks as Transmission System Operator

GRI 102-2

Tasks performed by PSE as transmission system operator can be classified into four basic categories:

Quality and current security of electricity supply.
Adequacy of the national transmission network.
Operation of the national central commercial balancing mechanism.
International cooperation within interconnected power systems and the single European electricity market.

Tasks related to the current security of supply

The regulatory framework applicable to the transmission system operator defines the technical standards for the transmission system operation and technical measures that should be available to it to meet the requirements in this area. The tasks performed by PSE in this area:

Balancing, i.e. striking a balance between the generation of electricity and actual demand

Balancing concerns both very short periods (seconds) and very long ones (hours), and it is performed by using power reserves maintained especially for this purpose. The TSO is required to maintain specific amounts of second, minute and hourly reserves. The first two types of reserves are acquired by PSE by entering into relevant contracts with generators for so-called regulation ancillary services – this action is preceded by a tendering procedure. The source of the hourly reserve is the balancing market (commercial bids). Depending on type and location, reserves are activated automatically or remotely, from the central power regulator, based on an order communicated by telephone or in another agreed way.

Ensuring compliance with network operation security criteria

The TSO is required to plan network operation and generation distribution in its nodes so that a criterion distortion does not cause a system failure and constraints in energy supply to consumers. For this purpose, coordination plans are prepared spanning periods from three years to one day. They include both maintenance schedules for network elements and repair schedules for generating units. In the planning process, constraints in the operation of generating units are identified for individual network nodes. The operator manages those constraints by using the balancing market mechanism or by entering into relevant agreements with generators.

Using automation systems of a preventive and recovery nature, and preparation of the PPS defence and restoration plans.

The TSO prepares measures to prevent the occurrence of states that pose a risk to the stable operation of the PPS, in particular the propagation of a failure in the transmission system. These are different kinds of automatic protection systems that support quick changes of the network operation configuration and the production level of generating units, plans of consumer outage or reduction of electricity supply and consumption, e.g. based on power rationing levels communicated by radio. In the event of failure in the transmission system, the TSO has restoration scenarios in place, which provide, in an extreme case, even for the need to restore the entire national system. In order to enable such scenarios to be executed, the system operator enters into contracts with generators capable of starting up without external power supply (ancillary service).

Tasks related to the adequacy of the national transmission network

As transmission system operator, PSE is responsible for the expansion and maintenance of the national transmission system and its interconnections with the neighbouring countries' systems. To ensure network adequacy, our company performs the following tasks:

Planning the expansion of the transmission network, taking into account the expected changes in the value and geographical distribution of domestic demand, location of new generating sources and network expansion plans of the operators of neighbouring countries and distribution system operators.
Maintenance of the physical condition of network resources so as to ensure their high availability.

Tasks related to the operation of the national central commercial balancing mechanism

Due to the special nature of electricity as a product, there must be a central balancing mechanism and a balance responsible party. The balancing mechanism is to ensure the commercial balancing of electricity market participants in real time and settlement of balancing energy. In Poland, this role is played by the balancing market mechanism through which current balancing of energy market participants is performed on the basis of bids submitted by parties actively participating in the market. The balancing market mechanism has a highly significant impact on other segments of the energy market as well as decisions on how generating resources should be used.

The balancing market operation rules should ensure:

equal treatment of all participants,
transparency of the calculation of clearing prices,
the possibility of consumer participation (consumption reduction bids),
creation of price signals conducive to the improvement of the operational performance of the entire sector.

International cooperation tasks

We are a member of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity ( ENTSO-E ). ENTSO-E groups together 42 transmission system operators from 35 countries in Europe. The Turkish operator TEIAS has been an Observer Member since 2016.

Fig. Member States associated in ENTSO-E (source)

The task of ENTSO-E is to promote reliable operation, optimal management and sustainable development of the pan-European electric power transmission system to ensure the security of supply and satisfy the needs of the internal energy market.

In-house indicator

More than 100 representatives of PSE are engaged in the work of ENTSO-E, actively participating at different levels of the organisation in all key tasks.

Our employees participate, among other things, in the process of preparing European Network Codes, issued as regulations of the European Commission, and guidelines to them. The Network Codes are regulatory tools for the implementation of the single electricity market in the EU – they contain common rules for the operation and management of power systems, and they are aimed to eliminate technical barriers for further integration of the market.

The Network Codes are legislative acts – EU Regulations – and as such they are directly applicable in the legal order of the EU Member States from the moment they enter into force. This entails a number of obligations. First of all the Member States must align their relevant laws and regulations with the norms arising from the Network Codes. Our company actively participates in the process. In addition, the TSO is obliged to adjust all regulatory measures which enable the transmission system operator’s tasks to be fulfilled, e.g. the Instruction of Transmission System Operation and Maintenance, to the provisions of the Network Codes.

The Network Codes give the Member States the option to regulate certain fields covered by the Network Codes within synchronous areas or capacity calculation regions, in order to take into account the specificities of the area or capacity calculation region concerned. For this reason, international cooperation is necessary between operators from a particular area or region in order to enable TCM (terms, conditions and methodologies) to be developed. These are documents prepared by TSOs from synchronous areas or capacity calculation regions. Our company actively participates in the process. The developed documents are approved by regulatory bodies in those areas or capacity calculation regions, i.e., in Poland, the President of the Energy Regulatory Office, or they are approved by the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER).