What is the intraday market?
The intraday market is an electricity market in which energy is traded within the same day of delivery. Market parties use this market to adjust their energy position after day-ahead trading has already taken place.
If production or demand deviates from previous forecasts, producers, suppliers and traders can buy or sell extra electricity.
Trading takes place continuously on energy exchanges such as EPEX, often in 5-minute products. This way, market parties can adjust their planning until shortly before delivery and the electricity grid remains better balanced.
What intraday markets are there?
Intraday trading takes place on various electricity exchanges in Europe. These markets make it possible to buy and sell electricity after the day-ahead market has already closed.
XBID (Cross-Border Intraday Market)
- European trading platform that links national intraday markets.
- Makes it possible to trade electricity cross-border between connected countries.
- Increases the liquidity of the intraday market because more market participants can participate.
- Used by several electricity exchanges, including EPEX and Nord Pool.
EPEX SPOT
- One of the largest electricity exchanges in Europe, active in the Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium, among others.
- Provides continuous intraday trading where electricity can be traded up to approximately 5 minutes before delivery.
- Trading takes place in various time products, such as quarter-hour contracts (15 minutes).
- Many energy companies, traders and asset operators use EPEX to adjust production and demand during the day.
Nord Pool
- Large electricity exchange that is mainly active in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries.
- Offers both day-ahead and intraday trading in electricity.
- Plays an important role in markets with a high share of wind and hydropower.
- Intraday trading via Nord Pool is linked to the XBID platform for European market integration.
N2EX
- Electricity Exchange for the United Kingdom.
- Established as a joint venture between Nord Pool and the European Energy Exchange Group.
- Facilitates electricity trading for both short-term and intraday markets.
- Supports market parties in balancing supply and demand within the British electricity system.
Why is intraday trading becoming increasingly important?
This is mainly because the share of sustainable energy sources such as sun and wind is growing rapidly. These sources depend on the weather and are therefore difficult to predict exactly.
If solar or wind production deviates from expectations, there will be a difference between planned and actual electricity production during the day. On the intraday market you can correct these deviations shortly before delivery by buying or selling electricity.
In addition, shorter trading intervals, real-time price information and linked European markets ensure that market parties can respond more quickly to changes in supply and demand. Intraday trading is therefore becoming an increasingly important instrument to keep the electricity grid stable and optimally manage energy portfolios.
Intraday trading and flexibility in energy assets: can you benefit from it?
The intraday market offers opportunities for parties that can adjust their energy production or consumption during the day. By buying or selling electricity at the right time, they can avoid costs or generate additional income.
Sustainable energy producers
- Adjust their energy position when solar or wind production deviates from expectations.
- Sell extra production, or buy additional electricity when output is lower.
Battery storage and energy assets
- Respond to price differences during the day (energy arbitrage).
- Charge when electricity prices are low and discharge when prices rise.
Energy companies and portfolio managers
- Use intraday trading to balance their energy portfolio.
- Adjust demand, production and market positions during the day.
The role of automation in intraday trading
Intraday trading requires quick decision-making. Electricity prices change constantly and transactions can take place up to minutes before delivery. This makes it virtually impossible for market parties to manually control energy assets at the right time.
Automation is therefore playing an increasingly important role. An energy management system (EMS) can analyze real-time market prices, production data and energy consumption and respond automatically.
By automatically controlling energy assets such as batteries, solar panels or charging infrastructure], systems respond to price changes during the day. This makes energy installations more flexible and market parties can optimize their energy portfolio more efficiently.
Smartbox
Increase the profitability of the energy assets in your customer portfolio with Smartbox
The Smartbox is an energy management system (EMS) that automatically controls energy assets such as batteries, charging infrastructure and sustainable generation based on real-time control signals from flexibility and balancing markets.
- Smartbox receives real-time signals from an aggregator and immediately converts them into concrete control of linked energy assets.
- Thanks to the Smartbox, connected installations such as batteries and charging stations can respond to activations from balancing markets within a few seconds.
- If flexibility is required on the electricity grid, the Smartbox automatically controls batteries to charge or discharge.
- Charging stations are controlled intelligently, so that the charging capacity automatically changes with rising and falling energy prices.
- The Smartbox dynamically adjusts sustainable energy production when necessary for the market approach or to keep the electricity system in balance.
As an energy installer or energy company], do you want to offer a smart EMS that gets the maximum return from energy installations? Read all about the Smartbox and the new earning opportunities it creates within the energy market, or contact us directly. We are happy to discuss the possibilities for a partnership.