As of October 1, a historical change starts in the European electricity market. That day, light prices will stop looking every hour to do it every 15 minutes. This means that there will be 96 different prices every day instead of 24, an adjustment that seeks to bring the rate closer to the reality of production and consumption in real time. And if, After several delaysnow European market operators have confirmed the entry into force of the so -called Cuarto Horario market.
The measure is not new or improvised. Already in 2017, The 2017/2195 regulation And later he EU Regulation 2019/943 They established that the deviation settlement period should be reduced from 60 to 15 minutes. This will force each electric company to declare how much energy it will produce or consume in every quarter of an hour and, if you deviate, receive a penalty.
In our country, the tests began last year Under supervision of Electric Red and OMIE. The CNMC designed a phase transition: First in the continuous intradiary market (March 2025) and then in the daily market (June). But the lack of preparation of some participants forced to delay the start -up until September 30, with a real effect on October 1. In addition, the change has meant redesigning auction systems coordinating with neighboring markets such as France, Portugal and Morocco.
What changes for the consumer? The short answer is little or nothing. To start there is a technical problem since current domestic counters only record consumption for hours. To avoid replacing millions of equipment, Electric Red A method will apply of linear interpolation that estimates fourth -hour consumption from time readings.
Therefore, people subject to the regulated rate (PVPC) will continue to see average prices per hour in their invoice. For their part, users of the free market will not notice changes, since their contracts are at a fixed price or with time discrimination. In other words, you will not have to look at the rate every quarter of an hour to put the washing machine. As long as the counters do not change, the invoices will continue to function for hours.
The other face. The real impact is in other areas. According to Galicia’s voicethe main beneficiaries will be the electro -intense industry, storage facilities and self -consumption projects, which can better adjust their consumption to take advantage of the cheapest moments of the day. Also SMEs with management capacity could win.
For another type of consumer. For households with solar panels or small self -consumption facilities, the fourth time market opens a window of opportunity. These consumers can better optimize when to consume their own energy and when to pour it into the network, taking advantage of the lowest or highest price sections. For that reason, storage will be key. With prices that change every 15 minutes, domestic or industrial batteries can be charged in the cheapest moments and download in the most expensive, multiplying savings possibilities.
In addition, the new system fits better with the intermittent nature of solar and wind: a cloud that passes or a windfire will be reflected in the market almost in real time. This will allow a more fluid integration of renewables. Of course, the counters are still schedules. The majority of households with self -consumption will continue to see average prices per hour, at least until the measurement systems are updated.
Less deviations, more renewable. Until now, the market set an hour price, but neither consumption nor generation are linear for 60 minutes. With 15 -minute intervals, these variations can be better adjusted, reducing the cost overruns of the adjustment markets that end up impacting the invoice, As the newspaper details.
In addition, the new system fits better with renewable energies. Its production – very variable in short periods of time – is integrated in a form More natural at intervals of 15 minutes.
Not everything is advantages. After the blackout of April 28 in the Iberian Peninsula, the Government It has had to rethink The measure for fear that the greatest granularity would cause instabilities in the network.
The transition has also meant a huge technical and economic burden. Operators, distributors and marketers have had to redesign their computer systems and with a persistent problem of network distribution.
A new energy chapter. Europe thus premieres a new era with 96 daily prices. A more flexible and sensitive market to the real variations of supply and demand that, According to Brusselsshould reduce costs and facilitate the integration of renewables.
The unknown is if that benefit will reach the domestic consumer’s invoice or if, as many times, it will remain in the hands of the great actors in the sector.
Image | Unspash
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings