EXCHANGES 2025
France
Information based on provisional data as of January 2026
The annual net balance of scheduled electricity exchanges through the interconnection with France was 138 GWh and therefore constituted an importer balance for the second consecutive year, compared to 2,795 GWh last year. Scheduled imports reached 9,139 GWh, 16.9% lower than the previous year. Scheduled export amounted to 9,001 GWh, a 9.7% increase compared to the previous year. From January to May and in November, 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 September, albeit with very similar values in December and August.
During 2025, a high utilisation rate was registered for this interconnection, most of the time in the direction from France to Spain (51% of hours). The average capacity utilisation rate in this period was 78%. These six months of exporter balance are mainly due to two causes: high penetration of renewables in the Spanish system and high electricity prices in France. Prices in France were higher than in Spain during the first five months of the year, as well as in November. Therefore, during the first five months of the year, 74% of hours showed an export-oriented balance, but only 38% of them used 100% of the export capacity, meaning that there was less congestion. In March, a month with a high electricity generation from renewable energies, 88% of hours recorded an export-oriented balance, and 100% of the export capacity was utilised 53% of the time. From June to October and December, almost 73% of hours recorded an import-oriented balance, but only 32% 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 2025
Regarding the utilisation of exchange capacity, congestion was recorded for 19.6% of hours in the import direction, down from 28.3% the previous year, while 20.9% of hours showed congestion in the export direction, compared to 25.1% the previous year. Although lower than in previous years, this confirms the limited interconnection capacity between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe. June recorded the highest proportion of hours with a net import-oriented balance, 82.9% of hours, with congestion on almost 45.6% of hours in this direction. March recorded the highest proportion of hours with a net export-oriented balance, 88.4% of hours, with congestion on 52.9% of hours in this direction.
Hourly capacity allocated in the long-term explicit auctions in the interconnection with France (IFE)
As for the capacity usage on the daily horizon, there was a high level of utilisation of this interconnection, however, the overall congestion rates were slightly lower than in the previous year. As a result, 34.3% of hours showed congestion in the France-Spain direction (compared to 39.7% last year), with an average price difference of €35.8/MWh; 27.5% of hours showed congestion in the Spain-France direction (compared to 27.9% last year), with an average price difference of €29.1/MWh; and the remaining 38.2% of hours showed no congestion in this interconnection.
Hours with and without congestion in the interconnection with France in 2025
In 2025, the interconnection with France recorded four full days without congestion on the daily horizon. On 70.4% of the days, congestion was recorded for more than 12 hours, compared to 71.8% last year.
The average price differential in absolute value in 2025 was equal to €20.3/MWh, lower than €22.3/MWh for the previous year. This value is more than 10 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 May, when the price of electricity in the day-ahead market in Spain was lower than in France. December is the month with the highest number of hours in which both systems were coupled. The month of June presented 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 €28/MWh in September. Differences were around €25/MWh in October and March and €21/MWh in July. 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 2025
Revenue from congestion generated in 2025 in this interconnection amounted to €449.8 million, with 50% of this total corresponding to the Spanish electricity system. This value is 2.6% higher than in 2024.
The origin of the revenue stems 58% from auctions, 34.7% from the daily horizon, 1.8% from the day-ahead horizon, and 5.5% from energy exchanged through RR, mFRR, and aFRR 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 → France direction was equal to €12.41/MW, 25% lower than the price of the capacity in the annual auction for 2024 (€16.61/MW). In the France → Spain direction, the resulting marginal price was equal to €10.51/MW, which represents an increase of 53% compared to that recorded in the same direction for the annual auction of 2024 (€6.85/MW).
The maximum price of allocated capacity in the monthly auctions in the France → Spain direction was recorded in July, with a value of €31.88/MW, higher than the €28.75/MW maximum registered in August 2024. In the Spain → France direction, the maximum price was reached in April, at €21.94/MW, similar to €21.53 in March of 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 58.3 GWh of imports and 125.7 GWh of exports. A total of 20.7 GWh are managed in the import direction and 17.7 GWh in the export direction through the European balancing platform MARI.
Congestion rents resulting from the international management mechanisms in the interconnection with France
| Revenues | Total rev. | Payments | Total payments | Net total | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual auction | 136,1 | - | - | - | - |
| Monthly auction | 138,9 | - | - | - | - |
| Total long-term auctions | 275,0 | Rev + Com | 14,5 | 260,5 | 57,9 |
| Daily horizon | 392,8 | UIOSI | 236,5 | 156,3 | 34,7 |
| Intraday horizon | 8,3 | - | - | 8,3 | 1,8 |
| Product RR + mFRR+aFRR | 24,7 | - | - | 24,7 | 5,5 |
| Total | 700,8 | Total | 251,0 | 449,8 |
In 2025, it was necessary for the operators of the Spanish and French electricity system operators 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 1,409 GWh, a slightly higher figure than the 1,216 GWh scheduled the previous year. 64% were scheduled in the import direction and the remaining 36% 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