As of October 1, 2025, a significant change will take place in the electricity market: the Day-Ahead market will transition from an hourly basis to a quarter-hourly basis. Among other things, this means that from now on, a separate price will be set for each quarter-hour of the day, rather than a single price per hour. Repowered will, of course, adapt to this change and ensure that customers can take full advantage of these new dynamics.
What's changing?
The Day-Ahead market is the primary venue where the majority of electricity is traded. In the Netherlands, the Day-Ahead market is linked to the rest of Europe via the Single Day-Ahead Coupling (SDAC), enabling efficient cross-border trading. Every day at 12:00 p.m., prices are set for the following day. Until now, this was done on an hourly basis, but starting October 1, it will be done on a quarter-hourly basis. This brings the Day-Ahead market more in line with the intraday market and the settlement of imbalances. It ensures a consistent structure across all market timeframes.
The smaller time blocks allow flexible market participants to align their supply and demand more precisely, which improves the accuracy of nominations and helps reduce imbalances. While the 15-minute prices are being introduced, other products, such as hourly bids, will remain available.
As more participants adopt the 15-minute intervals, the Day-Ahead market is expected to experience greater price volatility within each hour. This change may also affect arbitrage opportunities* in the intraday and imbalance markets.
*Arbitrage: trading on price differences to gain an advantage.
Why take this step?
The goal of the transition to quarter-hourly pricing is to create a more dynamic and resilient European market that can better integrate renewable energy, improve grid stability, and increase market efficiency.
Key benefits:
- Better integration of renewable energy: By using quarter-hourly prices, the prices better reflect the variation in production from renewable sources.
- Less imbalance: Greater granularity (detail) in bids ensures a more accurate match between supply and demand. This reduces the likelihood of imbalance and makes the electricity system more stable.
- More opportunities for flexibility: batteries, flexible installations, and smart algorithms can better respond to price fluctuations. This strengthens the revenue model for flexibility and expands the opportunities to create value.
The impact on various market participants
Inflexible manufacturers
are facing more competition from flexible players; hourly bids are less likely to be accepted on the first try.
Solar and Wind Farms
can submit more accurate bids and limit their imbalance costs; SDE subsidies in the event of negative prices will now be assessed on a quarter-hourly basis.
Batteries and other flexible assets
take advantage of additional opportunities arising from intraday price fluctuations, thereby creating more room for optimization.
What does this mean for Repowered customers?
At Repowered, we ensure that your bids and flexibility are fully aligned with the new quarter-hourly prices. Specifically, this means:
- Accurate forecasts of production and consumption.
- Smart bidding strategies that capitalize on the increased market dynamics.
- Stable returns thanks to our algorithms and market knowledge.
Repowered is ready
We constantly monitor the market to learn and make adjustments where necessary. Above all, we see opportunities: greater detail in the market means more opportunities to create value. And we’d be happy to help you with that!
