This week saw a significant milestone reached for the EU’s Single Intraday Coupling (SIDC) power market with the introduction of Intraday Auctions (IDAs). See the announcement from EPEX Spot here. The SIDC market, until now, has been a continuously traded market and while some local markets have had intraday auctions, this is the first time that auctions have been included in the SIDC mechanism.
Three IDAs take place per day, two of which occur on the day prior to delivery and one occurring on the day of delivery. Cross-zonal capacity is allocated during the auctions simultaneously for each bidding zone - this is different to the continuous market where it is allocated on a first-come-first serve basis.
The introduction of the IDAs adds a new dimension to the market which has potential ramifications for compliance, particularly in the context of REMIT 2. The IDAs will see the continuous market halted while the IDA auction takes place.
With significant levels of algorithmic trading penetration in the intraday continuous market, it remains to be seen what market behaviours might emerge as a result of the IDAs. Surveillance over intraday market trading will become a requirement for many firms under REMIT 2 and IDAs will not be exempt from such surveillance.
Further guidance from ACER is not expected until later in 2024 and it is not clear whether any further light will be shed on ACER’s expectations around the monitoring of auctions.