Italian borders with three countries successfully coupled

Slovenia’s ELES d. o. o. (Electricity Transmission System Operator) reported a further significant step towards an integrated European power market, as the Italian Borders Market Coupling was launched.

The Italian-Austrian, Italian-French and Italian-Slovenian borders have been coupled with the MultiRegional Coupling (MRC), thus linking the majority of EU power markets – from Finland to Portugal and Slovenia. The launch of the Italian Borders Market Coupling provides evidence of the flexibility and reliability of the Price Coupling of Regions (PCR) solution, the report said.

Capacity for the three border sections has been implicitly allocated through the PCR solution for the day-ahead markets, making those borders part of the MRC. This full price coupling allows the simultaneous calculation of electricity prices and cross-border flows across the region, ELES said. This will bring a benefit for end-consumers derived from a more efficient use of the power system and cross-border infrastructures, the report said.

Cross-border capacity of all inter-connectors within and between the following countries is now allocated in the day-ahead timeframe: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland (via the SwePol Link), Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

The day-ahead markets of MRC extended to the Italian Borders Market Coupling now cover 19 European countries, accounting for about 2,800 TWh of yearly consumption. The daily average cleared volume over these countries amounts to over 4 TWh, with an average daily value of over EUR 150 million.