The National Regulatory Authority for Energy (ANRE) has approved an order modifying previous regulations concerning the electricity market. This summer, balancing market prices soared more than fivefold compared to the previous year, reaching record levels of €3,000/MWh in July. In contrast, the average price for 2023 was around €80/MWh, while the 2024 average exceeds €400/MWh.
The new order introduces the concept of elastic demand for use by the transmission system operator (TSO) to mitigate imbalance prices. This concept, already utilized on the European balancing platform, can now be applied locally when the system is not connected to the single balancing platform. Elastic demand allows TSOs to optimize and lower balancing costs by using alternative offers and specific local balancing products. The TSO will communicate the maximum prices it is willing to pay for balancing energy, benefiting market participants by reducing balancing costs. Additionally, the TSO must transparently publish prices for balancing offers and marginal prices for balancing energy selected for each settlement interval, the day after delivery.
Changes also include modifications to the price offered to power plants during a trial period, aligning it with the day-ahead market price. This test period will be scheduled with the TSO based on the power and operating voltage of each producer.
Starting January 1, 2025, network operators are required to provide suppliers with timely information on consumption values to enable proactive measures for balancing portfolios. This provision aims to improve consumption forecasts, potentially reducing balancing costs and lowering electricity prices for end consumers.
Overall, ANRE’s measures are designed to create a more effective regulatory framework for reducing electric power system balancing costs and could help lower imbalance prices for market participants and consumers.
