This week, the ENTSO-E Bidding Zone Review for the target year 2025 has been officially released — a major step towards enhancing the efficiency, resilience, and transparency of the European electricity market.
The study evaluates 14 alternative bidding zone configurations across Central Europe and the Nordics, addressing a key question:
Can adjustments to bidding zones better reflect market realities, improve economic efficiency, and enhance grid security?
Key insights include:
- In Central Europe, a split of the Germany–Luxembourg bidding zone into five areas shows the highest potential for efficiency gains (€251–€339 million).
- A split of the Netherlands presents a modest positive impact (€9 million).
- Alternatives for France, Italy, and the Nordics generally lead to lower economic efficiency compared to the status quo.
This study represents a major technical achievement, combining deep market analysis, advanced modeling, and extensive cross-border collaboration among Europe’s transmission system operators (TSOs).
E-Bridge is proud to have contributed to this important project by supporting the steering committee, the high levelmeetings, the bidding zone review task force and modelling working group for the Central European and Nordic regions. We sincerely thank ENTSO-E and all TSOs and experts involved for their outstanding cooperation and commitment throughout this journey.
The full study is now available via ENTSO-E’s official channels.
