Swiss grid operators not ready to sign ETSO

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Swiss grid operators are in no hurry to sign up to the new European Transmission System Operators agreement. “There are still some open points and we are looking for a solution,” a spokesman for transmission system operator ATEL said Thursday. But if Switzerland does not sign the agreement this week it would miss the Mar 1 deadline for integration into the new European system. An ATEL spokesman said Thursday he envisaged no real problems for Swiss operators should they miss the deadline. “Technical agreements are already in place, it is only on the political level that we need a solution,” he said. Austria is the other country yet to sign. The Swiss operators are unwilling to sign while their dispute with Italian grid operator GRTN over import allocations continues. An Italian court rejected a lawsuit brought by the Swiss companies and they are “still in discussions over the next move,” ATEL said.