A controversial recommendation on whether and how to split the German and French power markets has been postponed.
Grid operator association Entso-E confirmed to Euractiv that the position, which is under discussion between Central European grid operators and was originally due to be published next Monday, is now “planned for spring 2025”, as first reported by Table Media.
For now, the delay avoids an expected clash between Central European countries, which are increasingly affected by the operation of their neighbours’ power grids.
The last-minute delay is due to “a dialogue with the European Commission regarding the scope of the bidding zone study,” said Entso-E.
Grid operators were originally tasked with writing the report in autumn 2022, with publication due in the third quarter of 2024, and then on 27 January.
The delay in taking a decision may reflect the political sensitivity of the issue.
France, which has a highly centralised power system, is resisting the idea of splitting its power markets. In Germany, the electricity-hungry south with few wind turbines fears having to pay a premium for wind power from the north.
Power markets across Europe are supposed to reflect the physical capacity of the grid to transport electricity. In geographic areas where power can flow freely, EU rules say that there should be a single price for electricity.
But in 2022, EU energy regulator ACER found that this was not the case for France and Germany, and that power flows in Central Europe were being distorted as a result.
Unlike other EU countries like Sweden and Italy, where power prices vary by region according to the grid’s capacity, the bloc’s largest countries have only one power price.
This has led to large intra-country flows of electricity, sometimes spilling over into neighbouring countries’ grids and causing disruption. Smaller regional pricing zones, rather than larger national zones, are expected to solve this problem.
16 grid operators from 12 EU countries, from France to Poland to Slovenia, will make a recommendation on whether the French and German markets should be split, before the involved EU countries have to unanimously agree, with the European Commission making the final call.
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