This month marks an important milestone for Europe’s electricity market. The completion of the transition from 60-minute to 15-minute Market Time Units across all of the EU’s bidding zones and bidding zone borders means that Europe will, from now onwards, enjoy higher market efficiency and better integration of renewable sources. Magnus Energy supported the multi-year international program.
The reform came in response to the growing need to better integrate renewable sources such as wind and solar into power transmission networks. With wind and solar generation fluctuating sharply within the hour, the production of such energy can vary significantly from one market time unit (MTU) to the next.
This creates structural imbalances that transmission system operators (TSOs) must manage. The shift from hourly to 15-minute market time units (MTUs) in the Single Day-Ahead Coupling (SDAC) significantly shortens the time interval for which electricity can be priced and traded. This increases the granularity of cross-border electricity trading, enabling the system to more efficiently handle volatile renewable energy generation through improved forecasting and bidding.
Until late 2024, the MTUs were 60 minutes on European borders in the Day-ahead. The Baltics were the first to go-live with the 15-minute MTU, followed by France, the zones comprising Norway, Spain, and Portugal, the Nordics, and Poland. On 30 September 2025, the last zone – Greece and its borders – also went live, completing the multi-year rollout program.
Intensive cooperation
The implementation of the 15-minute MTU across all European bidding zones and bidding zone borders was an incredibly complex operation. It involved 32 (TSOs) and 17 Nominated Electricity Market Operators (NEMOs), as well as Regional Coordination Centres (RCCs) and the JAO (Joint Allocation Office) to work together intensively.
They had to adjust the standard market coupling methods, processes, IT systems, and information-sharing to this new timeframe. It required all parties involved to change their internal ways of working, too. Last but not least, market parties were involved in the implementation process to ensure a smooth transition for the participants.
Magnus Energy’s role
At the highest level of the program, Magnus Energy provides the Program Management Office for the Market Coupling Steering Committee (MCSC) – the body that represents all NEMOs and TSOs across the Single Day-ahead Coupling (SDAC) and Single Intraday Coupling (SIDC) programs.
Commenting on the firm’s involvement, Patrícia Brhlíková from Magnus Energy said: “The MCSC is an incredibly complex multiparty program, and the 15-minute MTU has been a key priority. We’re glad to have played our role in supporting all NEMOs and TSOs, the many working groups and the steering committee in moving this milestone forward.”
Magnus Energy has been playing an important role in Europe’s integrated electricity market since 2016 across several reforms and programs.
The Single Day-Ahead Coupling program is part of the EU’s aim to integrate wholesale electricity markets into a single, pan-European day-ahead market. It aims to increase efficiency by coupling electricity trading across different regions and simultaneously allocating scarce cross-border transmission capacity using a common algorithm.
Sourced from Consultancy.eu