In regard to the new balancing market rules effective from 01.05.2024, the National Energy Chamber has conducted an expert analysis of the Methodology for Setting Prices for Balancing Electricity (the Methodology) based on data from its initial six months of implementation. This analysis utilized publicly available information from the balancing services market. The findings highlight several drawbacks of the current Methodology, which warrant further investigation and discussion.

One major issue identified is related to the formation process of the ‘system imbalance’ component and the application conditions of calculation steps 2 and 3. These structural aspects of the Methodology appear to be contributing to imbalances between costs for acquiring balancing services and revenues received from balancing group coordinators.

The Chamber underscores that these methodological factors may create “market-distorting incentives,” which should be explicitly avoided under Article 44(1) (f) of Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2195 of 23 November 2017, which establishes guidelines for electricity balancing (Regulation 2017/2195).

This discrepancy contradicts the general principles of imbalance settlement outlined in Article 44 of Regulation 2017/2195. According to this regulation, the national regulatory authority must ensure a fair and balanced approach so that no undue advantages are present within the regulatory period.

The National Energy Chamber remains a responsible partner to the institutions in achieving optimal and harmonized market rules with European law in the electricity sector and stands ready for future expert discussions on this matter.