The way towards European electricity intraday auctions – Status quo and future developments

Abstract

This paper sheds light on the status quo of currently implemented electricity intraday auctions in Europe and offers an outlook for future developments. First, we compare the two market mechanisms “continuous trading” and “auction” and identify advantages and disadvantages. Then, we investigate the currently existing six intraday auctions in Europe. We compare crucial auction characteristics such as the number of auctions, tradable market period(s), gate opening time and gate closure time, and find a wide variety in auction designs. By examining relevant European regulation and recent regulatory decisions, we illustrate that future European intraday auctions can either be implemented as cross-border auctions or complementary regional auctions. We find that complementary regional auctions of the borders Portugal-Spain, CCR Greece-Italy and CCR Italy-North are already approved.