ACER Has Decided On Alternative Electricity Bidding Zone Configurations

The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) has reached a decision on alternative electricity bidding zone configurations.

What are bidding zones and why are their alternative configurations relevant?

A bidding zone is the largest geographical area within which market participants are able to exchange energy without capacity allocation. Currently, bidding zones in Europe are mostly defined by national borders. However, the existing European electricity target model requires defining bidding zones based on network congestions. Hence, alternative bidding zone configurations based on this principle need to be examined.

What are the Decision’s main highlights?

In its Decision, ACER proposes alternative bidding zone configurations for five Member States;

In Continental Europe, alternative configurations are proposed for Germany (4 alternatives), France (1), Italy (1) and the Netherlands (1).
In the Nordic area, 4 alternative configurations are proposed for Sweden.

Following ACER’s Decision, TSOs have 12 months to conduct the bidding zone review and to recommend whether to keep or amend the existing bidding zones. Member States will then decide whether or not to change the bidding zones accordingly.