There will be common rules in place for day-ahead and intra-day electricity trading in Europe by 2015 - but the grids to transmit this electricity are unlikely to be upgraded by then, according to power industry body Eurelectric.
Eurelectric secretary Hans ten Berge said that European regulators were likely to agree a design for day-ahead and intra-day trading of electricity and the capacity to transport this electricity by 2015 - more or less in line with the EU`s target to create a single European power market by 2014.
"The Florence Forum is making progress on this," he said, referring to Europe`s main forum to draw up new electricity rules in line with European legislation. "But rolling out the grids will take longer."
Intra-day roadmap
At the latest forum, regulators and transmission system operators worked on roadmaps to pool all day-ahead and intra-day liquidity when allocating transport capacity between transmitters. Pilot projects are already taking place in northwest Europe and a high-level roadmap for trading at the Italian borders should follow later this year or in 2012.
The plan will be extended to other regions in 2013 and 2014.
Eurelectric previously called for an integrated day-ahead and intra-day market by 2012, in a report to the Florence Forum in May, citing the need to deal with intermittent renewable generation (see EDEM 25 May 2011).
However, grid infrastructure investment remains an issue, not least because the current system does not incentivise European grid operators and national regulators to put money into projects without direct benefits for their own markets (see EDEM 26 May 2011).
(THE ICIS HEREN REPORTS - EDEM 15111 / 14 June 2011)