Your installation injects electricity into the Brussels grid. When production far exceeds consumption, the grid reaches its point of incompressibility: it can no longer absorb the surplus, and its balance is threatened. To prevent this, Sibelga may then temporarily reduce your injection — this is called remote control.
Why Sibelga needs to be able to remote-control your production
A permanent balance between production and consumption is essential: it keeps the grid frequency at 50 Hertz. A significant imbalance can cause major disruptions, or even a Europe-wide blackout.
Usually, such an imbalance is absorbed by the electricity market mechanisms: producers adjust their output, or electricity is exported to neighbouring countries. But these levers have their limits.
Incompressibility happens when several factors come together:
- very high renewable production (sun, wind);
- low consumption, typically during weekends and public holidays;
- neighbouring countries facing the same surplus and unable to absorb it;
- weather forecasts underestimating production, reducing the margin for anticipation.
When these usual mechanisms are no longer enough, remote control becomes the last tool to preserve the stability of the grid — and to keep electricity flowing across Brussels.
Is your installation concerned?
Remote control applies to production installations connected to the distribution grid with a total developable capacity of 500 kVA or more.
If that is your case, your installation must be equipped with a remote control device, in accordance with Article 2.25 §1 of the Electricity Technical Regulation. The technical requirements are set out in our complementary prescriptions for decentralised production (Article 7.13).
How does this remote control work?
When activated, remote control acts directly on your production (for example through your inverters) to limit what you inject into the grid.
Three important things to keep in mind:
- The measure is temporary: it is lifted as soon as the grid balance is restored.
- It only affects injection: your access to electricity from the grid remains assured at all times.
- It is activated only as a last resort, when market mechanisms are no longer enough.
Operational tests
To make sure the device is operational, Sibelga organises tests:
- a maximum of 2 tests per year per installation;
- you are informed in advance;
- the test duration and capacity reduction are kept to a minimum.
- The exact schedule is not shared: the test needs to reflect a real situation.
Regulatory framework
These measures fall within the technical prescriptions applicable to producers connected to the distribution grid, currently under validation by Brugel. No substantial changes are planned.
Do you have more questions?
Your account manager Wellars Gasinga knows your case and can explain what this means in practice for your site.