Congestion management measures comprise redispatching measures with operational and grid reserve power plants and countertrading. They can be cross-border or national measures and are needed to avoid or eliminate current-related or voltage-related congestion or to meet requests from other countries.

Redispatching measures with conventional power plants comprise both increases and reductions in feed-in. Grid reserve power plants are used solely for increases in capacity. Countertrading, on the other hand, is a market-oriented instrument used to ensure that a minimum trading capacity is maintained through countertrade transactions with foreign transmission system operators while at the same time relieving congestion. Redispatching renewable energy installations involves reductions.

Redispatching measures using operational power plants are carried out by both DSOs and TSOs, whereas countertrading and redispatching measures with reserve power plants are the sole responsibility of the TSOs.

The revised Grid Expansion Acceleration Act (NABEG 2.0) fundamentally changed the requirements for redispatching and feed-in management. The separate rules on the curtailment of electricity from renewable energy sources and from combined heat and power production, previously anchored in the Renewable Energy Sources Act (section 14 and section 15 EEG 2021), form part of the new Redispatch 2.0 system as from 1 October 2021. Since 2022 the former feed-in management of renewable energy installations has been completely incorporated into the redispatching measures for operational power plants.

The costs for redispatching using operational power plants and for countertrading are net values. Redispatching costs consist of the costs of ramping up power stations less the proceeds from fuel savings. The costs of countertrading correspond to the difference between the costs and the proceeds from commercial transactions.

Costs for redispatching with grid reserve power plants include the costs of contracting and operating the grid reserve plant capacity.
Until the end of 2021, redispatching costs for operational power plants solely comprised measures using conventional power plants. Feed-in management costs were listed separately and corresponded to the estimated claims for compensation of operators of renewable energy plants that had been curtailed. As from 2022 these items have been combined in Redispatch 2.0.

Redispatching costs now comprise financial compensation paid to operators of renewable energy installations, the compensation paid to balance responsible parties under the BDEW (German Association of Energy and Water Industries) interim solution, as well as the costs for redispatching with conventional power plants.