IGCC (International Grid Control Cooperation)
IGCC is the European platform that runs the imbalance-netting process required by Article 22 of EBGL Regulation (EU) 2017/2195. It offsets opposing aFRR demand between connected LFC areas before any reserves are physically activated, so a positive frequency-restoration need in one area cancels against a negative need in another — saving balancing energy that would otherwise be wasted on activations that net to zero. The Baltic TSOs joined ahead of the 9 February 2025 CESA synchronisation.
IGCC (International Grid Control Cooperation) is the European platform that runs the imbalance-netting process required by Article 22 of the Electricity Balancing Guideline (Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2195). Imbalance netting offsets opposing aFRR demand between connected LFC areas before any reserves are physically activated, so a positive frequency-restoration need in one area cancels against a negative need in another.
Why netting matters
Without netting, two TSOs activating in opposite directions would each consume balancing energy, paying twice for what would otherwise cancel out. IGCC removes that waste: the net residual imbalance after offsetting is the only volume that triggers actual aFRR delivery. ENTSO-E selected the cooperation as the EU netting platform in 2016 and the common European platform went live on 24 June 2021. More than twenty Continental TSOs are connected.
Baltic accession
Elering, AST and Litgrid joined IGCC in early 2025 in the run-up to the 9 February 2025 synchronisation with Continental Europe. IGCC participation requires sharing a synchronous area for aFRR netting to be physically meaningful — so Baltic membership only became possible after the BRELL exit. Since accession, IGCC offsets a meaningful share of Baltic aFRR demand, suppressing the volume that has to clear through PICASSO.
Demand netting, not energy exchange
IGCC handles aFRR demand netting before activation; PICASSO handles cross-border activation of whatever aFRR demand remains. The two are complementary, not substitutes — netting reduces the activation volume; activation prices what is still needed.
Sources
ENTSO-E: Imbalance Netting · EBGL Article 22 · Elering: Baltic Balancing Roadmap 2024