Brussels, 28 April 2025 – Today, theEuropean Electricity Transmission System Operators (TSOs) released the report on the Bidding Zone (BZ) Study. In this report the TSOs within the electricity markets of the Central Europe and Nordic regions evaluated 14 alternative bidding zone configurations specified by ACER (1,3).  

A bidding zone is a geographical area within the electricity market where electricity can be bought and sold without considering physical grid limitations. The bidding zone review aims to establish optimal bidding zone configurations in Europe to maximize economic efficiency and cross-zonal trading opportunities, while maintaining security of supply. 

The report contains two proposals: one for Central Europe and one for the Nordic region, which are to help Member States decide on whether to amend or maintain current bidding zone configurations. This study was conducted in accordance with EU regulation (2).

Conclusions in the BZ report

According to the BZR methodology defined by ACER, TSOs were requested to assess 14 alternative configurations on the basis of 22 criteria grouped into four categories (network security, market efficiency, stability and robustness of BZs, and the energy transition). According to this methodology, the BZ configurations were ranked using the “economic efficiency” criterion. 

The results of the economic efficiency criterion of alternative BZs are the following:  

  • For the Nordic Region: None of the studied alternative BZ configurations provide a higher economic efficiency. The result shows a negative change in economic efficiency for the configurations ranging from €2 million to €35 million compared to the status quo, for the target year 2025.

  • For the Central Europe Region: 

    • The simulation results show a higher economic efficiency for all German–Luxembourgish split configurations (ranging from €251 million to €339 million for the 2025 target year), where the split of Germany–Luxembourg into five BZs performs the highest among the analysed alternative configurations in terms of economic efficiency.
    • The Dutch split configuration also shows a slight positive effect on economic efficiency (€9 million for the 2025 target year). 
    • The French and Italian alternative configurations show a negative effect in economic efficiency. 

The report includes two proposals of the TSOs (one from Central Europe TSOs and one from Nordic TSOs) on the future configuration of bidding zones in Europe, which are: 

  • The Nordic TSOs propose to maintain the current BZ configuration in Sweden as the report result shows a negative monetised benefit for all analysed Nordic configurations compared to the status quo.
  • For the TSOs of the Central Europe region, the simulation results indicate that the configuration with the highest positive monetised benefit in relation to criterion four (economic efficiency) compared to the status quo would be the split of Germany–Luxembourg into five BZs. The Central Europe TSOs proposal stresses that this result stems from the BZR methodology defined by ACER and does not take important additional aspects into account and therefore should not be seen in isolation, but rather in combination with certain considerations, which should be thoroughly assessed prior to the eventual decision of the relevant member state(s) affected by a split on the future BZ configuration, as they could have a considerable impact on the interpretation and the outcomes of the BZ Study performed by the TSOs.

To facilitate stakeholder engagement, ENTSO-E and TSOs will organise a webinar on 6 May 2025 to present and discuss the outcome of the BZ Study. The webinar will provide an opportunity to understand the results of the study, ask questions, and contribute to the discussion on bidding zone configurations. Questions on the next steps should be directed to Member States.

To join the webinar, use the following link on the day and time of the event: Webinar BZ Study 6 May from 9am to 12pm CET. Join here.

The full study is available on the ENTSO-E website.

For more information:

media@entsoe.eu

Notes

  1. EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER)
  2. Regulation EU 2019/943 and decisions of the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) (29-2020 and 11-2022)
  3. The following alternative configurations have been assessed. For the Nordic region: 4 alternative configurations for Sweden (2 with 3 BZs and 2 with 4 BZs). For CE region: 4 BZ split configurations for Germany-Luxembourg (in 2, 3, 4 and 5 BZs), 1 BZ split configuration for the Netherlands (in 2 BZs), 1 BZ split configuration for France (in 3 BZs), 1 BZ split configuration for Italy (North) and 3 combinations of splits of Germany-Luxembourg (in 2, 4 and 5 BZs) and of the Netherlands (in 2 BZs).

About ENTSO-E

ENTSO-E, the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity, is the association for the cooperation of the European transmission system operators (TSOs). The 40 member TSOs, representing 36 countries, are responsible for the secure and coordinated operation of Europe’s electricity system, the largest interconnected electrical grid in the world. In addition to its core, historical role in technical cooperation, ENTSO-E is also the common voice of TSOs.