EXCHANGES 2024
France
Information based on provisional data as of January 2025
The annual net balance of scheduled electricity exchanges through the interconnection with France now import-oriented, after two consecutive years of export balances, amounting to 2,795 GWh, compared to the 1,877 GWh in exports from the previous year. Scheduled import reached 10,999 GWh, 31.2% higher than the previous year. Scheduled export amounted to 8,204 GWh, a 20.1% decrease compared to the previous year. From January to April, the monthly net balances were export-oriented, while for the rest of the year, the balances were import-oriented. The highest export balance was recorded in March, while the highest import balance occurred in August.
During 2024, a high utilisation rate was registered for this interconnection, most of the time in the direction from France to Spain (56% of hours). The average capacity utilisation rate in this period was 81%. The export-oriented balance during four months was mainly due to two causes: high penetration of renewables in the Spanish electricity system and high electricity prices in France. Prices in France were higher than in Spain during the first four months of the year. Therefore, during the first four months of the year, 77% of hours showed an export-oriented balance, and more than 53% of the export capacity was utilised at 100%, i.e., there was congestion in the exporter direction. In March, the month with the highest electricity generation from renewable energies, 93% of hours recorded an export-oriented balance, and 100% of the export capacity was utilised 74% of the time. From June to December, almost 74% of hours recorded an import-oriented balance, but only 41% of the time was the full export capacity utilised, indicating lower congestion.
Exchange capacity and net balance of scheduled exchanges in the interconnection with France in 2024
Regarding the utilisation of exchange capacity, congestion was recorded for 28.3% of hours in the import direction, compared to 21.9% the previous year, while 25.1% of hours showed congestion in the export direction, which is lower than the 37.6% recorded the previous year. All of this confirms the limited interconnection capacity between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe. August recorded the highest proportion of hours with a net export-oriented balance, 92.3% of hours, with congestion on almost 62% of hours. March recorded the highest proportion of hours with a net export-oriented balance, 93.4% of hours, with congestion on 74.4% of hours.
Hourly capacity allocated in the long-term explicit auctions in the interconnection with France (IFE)
As for the daily horizon capacity usage, there was a high level of utilisation of this interconnection. However, overall congestion rates were very similar to the previous year. As a result, 39.73% of hours showed congestion in the France-Spain direction (compared to 28.55% last year), with an average price difference of €34.5 /MWh; 27.95% of hours showed congestion in the Spain-France direction (compared to 38.68% last year), with an average price difference of €31.0/MWh; and the remaining 32.32% of hours showed no congestion in this interconnection.
Hours with and without congestion in the interconnection with France in 2024
In 2024, France did not record a single full day without congestion on the daily horizon. On 71.8% of the days, congestion was recorded for more than 12 hours, compared to 72.1% last year.
The average price differential in absolute value in 2024 was equal to €22.3/MWh, slightly lower than €26.3/MWh for the previous year. This value is more than 11 times higher than the threshold considered by the European Union to qualify an interconnection as weak.
The levels of congestion in exchange capacity in the daily horizon were higher in the Spain-France direction from January to April, when the price of electricity in the day-ahead market in Spain was lower than in France. May and October were the months with the highest number of hours in which both systems were coupled. The month of March recorded the highest level of congestion in the interconnection.
The average absolute price spread is higher than €10/MWh, except in May, reaching average differences of more than €35/MWh in August. In February, March, July, September, and December, the differences were over €25/MWh. In this respect, it should be mentioned that the European Commission considers that average spread values above €2/MWh reflect a need to reinforce an interconnection.
Hours with and without congestion in the interconnection with France and the difference in prices of the day-ahead market in 2024
The congestion rents generated in 2024 in this interconnection amounted to 438.3 million euros (224.5 million in the importer direction and 213.8 million in the exporter direction), with 50% of this total corresponding to the Spanish electricity system.
The origin of the rents consists of 61.9% from auctions, 34.9% from the daily horizon, 0.4% from the intraday horizon and 2.7% from energy exchanged through the RR and mFRR products.
With regard to the prices resulting from the exchange capacity auctions, the marginal price of the annual capacity auction for the year 2024 in the Spain → direction France was equal to €16.61/MW, almost eight times lower than the price of the capacity in the annual auction for the year 2023 (€132.45/MW). In the France → Spain direction, the resulting marginal price was equal to €6.85/MW, which represents an increase of 73% compared to that recorded in the same direction for the annual auction of 2023 (€3.95/MW).
The maximum price of allocated capacity in the monthly auctions in the France → Spain direction was recorded in August, with a value of €28.75/MW, much higher than the €12.78/MW registered in August 2023. In the Spain → France direction, the maximum price was reached in March, at 21.53/MW, over 5 times lower than that of January last year.
Balancing energy exchanges across this border via the European platform for the management of balancing energy from RR-type replacement reserves amounted to 111.9 GWh of imports and 413.9 GWh of exports. Since 10 December, tertiary energy scheduling has been carried out through the European balancing platform MARI, although there were no exchanges through the interconnection with France until 19 December. A total of 0.2 GWh are managed in the import direction and 0.4 GWh in the export direction through this interconnection.
Congestion rents resulting from the international management mechanisms in the interconnection with France
€ Million
In 2024, it was necessary for the operators of the Spanish and French electricity systems to implement coordinated counter-trading actions (scheduled exchanges in the opposite direction to the existing flow established to guarantee the firmness of the commercial schedules in the event of curtailments of allocated capacity), for a total value of 1,216 GWh, a figure lower than the 1,253 GWh scheduled the previous year. 52% were scheduled in the import direction, and the remaining 48% in the export direction.
Annual evolution of counter-trading in the interconnection with France
Cross-border electricity exchanges
Exchange capacity
Cross-border electricity exchanges
Portugal