Ensuring compatibility of the all‐island electricity system with the target model: Fitting a square peg into a round hole?

The all‐island wholesale electricity market, SEM, has to comply with the Target Model by 2016. SEM has worked well for consumers through mitigating market power, facilitating entry and ensuring adequate generation capacity, problems that will persist. But the SEM is a mandatory pool with central dispatch, the Target Model is a self dispatch with bilateral contracts. Minimal change to the SEM in complying with the Target Model is preferable to reinvention of SEM. The latter option might be appropriate when the EU internal electricity market is complete and the all‐island market has sufficient interconnection to participate fully in that market.