ACER encourages European associations of energy market participants to engage in stakeholder activities supporting REMIT implementation from 2026 to 2028.

We welcome associations with expertise in the areas of electricity, natural gas, liquified natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen, dealing with supply, transportation and storage, including energy derivatives (where relevant for REMIT reporting framework).

What’s behind this?

The Regulation on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT) is the EU framework that aims to prevent wholesale energy market abuse and support fair competition. The Regulation was revised in 2024 to keep pace with evolving market dynamics.

To ensure the revised Regulation is implemented effectively and consistently, ACER works closely with different stakeholders across the EU. European associations of energy market participants are key to bringing practical experience and sector-wide perspectives that help align implementation with real market practices.

How will associations contribute?

Associations participating in ACER’s stakeholder activities will:

• provide input on the revision of the REMIT data reporting framework, including updates to the reporting guidance; and
• exchange views on practical aspects of REMIT implementation and related challenges.

Engagement may include targeted consultations, roundtable meetings, webinars or other interactive activities, allowing associations to directly contribute to shaping REMIT implementation.

Who can join? 

ACER plans to establish two lists of associations:

1. EU associations of energy market participants, representing members from several EU Member States, to take part in regular stakeholder activities.
2. Associations of energy market participants, representing international, national or local views, to be engaged on an ad hoc basis depending on the topic.

ACER will seek balanced and diverse participation, representing different energy market segments and expertise at EU level.

Interested in applying? 

Submit your application by 31 October 2025. Late submissions will not be considered.

See how to apply.

Today, ACER publishes its biennial Opinion on the draft lists of proposed projects of common interest (PCIs) and projects of mutual interest (PMIs) for 2025. 

The PCIs/PMIs lists include energy infrastructure projects prioritised at EU level given their impact to significantly enhance the cross-border links among the energy systems of EU countries (and third-party countries in the case of PMIs). These projects can benefit from accelerated permitting procedures, regulatory treatment and funding, as they are identified as key contributors for integrating renewables, boosting cross-border capacity and advancing Europe’s climate and energy goals.

What is the role of ACER?

ACER’s role in the PCIs/PMIs selection process, as defined by the TEN-E Regulation, is to verify that the relevant methodologies and criteria are applied consistently and transparently across regions in the projects’ selection process. A fair and credible process ensures that the most beneficial projects are prioritised in developing trans-European energy infrastructure. ACER’s role is not to give a ‘second opinion’ on the merits of the different projects nor to help decision makers rank such projects for ultimate selection.

What are the key conclusions?

In its Opinion, ACER found:

• Delays in the availability of Ten-Year Network Development Plans (TYNDPs) data and their cost-benefit results, which hindered the projects’ assessment.
• Infrastructure needs have been identified only per Member State, without sufficient identification of capacity needs per border.
• Unclear distinction of monetised and non-monetised benefits in the ranking of projects, reducing clarity on how these are prioritised.
• Lack of justifications of the projects added on top of the formal proposals from the Regional Groups. The Regional Groups are chaired by the European Commission and include representatives from Member States, transmission system operators, project promoters, energy regulators and ACER. Their role is to assess the projects' potential contribution to EU energy priorities.
• Difficulty for regulators, due to insufficient data, to properly assess several hydrogen project candidates, including their underlying benefits, in the lists. 
• The draft PCIs/PMIs lists do not clearly distinguish between mature and less mature electricity projects.

As these obstacles may affect the credibility and robustness of the selection process, ACER recommends to:

• Deliver the TYNDP data on time and in good quality for the PCIs/PMIs selection process.
• Introduce an assessment of capacity needs per border per each energy vector, thus improving the needs assessment methodology.
• Clearly distinguish between projects’ monetised and non-monetised benefits.
• Ensure greater transparency in complementary project evaluations, if these can’t be avoided.
• Ensure that the complete set of project data is made available for the national regulatory authorities’ assessment in due time, to allow them to conduct thorough and consistent analyses.
• Introduce maturity criteria for electricity projects to clearly distinguish between mature and less mature projects on the electricity PCIs/PMIs lists. This would ensure transparent prioritisation and allow support for less mature projects when they are ready for construction.
• Consider multiple scenarios, in line with ACER’s Scenario Guidelines, to test the robustness of results.

What are the next steps?

By addressing these issues, the PCIs/PMIs selection process will become more transparent, consistent and credible, ensuring Europe invests in the right infrastructure to meet its energy and climate goals.

On 27 March 2025, ACER received the transmission system operators’ (TSOs’) proposal to amend the harmonised allocation rules (HAR) for long-term electricity transmission rights.

The harmonised allocation rules apply to all long-term transmission rights allocations conducted within the European Union, specifying criteria for their auctioning (including use and curtailment of long-term transmission rights, eligibility criteria, etc.). 

The TSOs’ proposal included various updates related to arrangements with market participants, reflecting upcoming market changes (e.g. introduction of 15-minute market time unit in the day-ahead electricity market) and recent incidents (e.g. single day-ahead market decoupling in June 2024). 

To take an informed decision, ACER consulted stakeholders during Spring 2025.

What did ACER decide?

ACER approves the TSOs' proposal, while adding some clarifications and proposing further reviews on the:

• Usage of the day-ahead price for remunerating long-term transmission rights in case of decoupling: ACER recommends TSOs and national regulatory authorities to review the arrangements among nominated electricity market operators (NEMOs), which should set transparent rules for defining the single day-ahead reference price in case of decoupling. 
• Relevant rules for the nomination of physical transmission rights: ACER recommends TSOs and national regulatory authorities to review the applicable nomination rules, considering the introduction of 15-minute market time unit in the day-ahead market.

ACER agreed with TSOs to tackle improvements to the collateral requirements in long-term flow-based auctions separately. 

What are the next steps? 

TSOs and regulatory authorities should now review nomination rules and multiple NEMOs' arrangements to reflect the latest updates introduced by ACER. 

Ahead of the European Commission’s Grids Package proposals (expected in Q4 2025), ACER sets out its recommendations for revising the current legal framework for grids.

Europe’s power grids need to be upgraded, expanded and optimised to connect more planned renewables and thus speed up a cost-efficient clean energy transition.

The European Commission estimated that investment needs for electricity grids will amount to €730 billion for distribution and €477 billion for transmission by 2040.

The European Commission is developing a Grids Package to improve and simplify the current legal framework. This includes the revision and simplification of the 2022 Trans-European Energy Networks Regulation (TEN-E Regulation), a key framework for European energy infrastructure development.

ACER's recommendations address network development aspects (rather than permitting or financing) to improve the efficiency of the EU network planning process and support a cost-effective energy transition. ACER’s focus is on key key areas of network planning and assessment, including:

• Scenario development and the need for improved coordination within and between ENTSO-E and ENTSOG.
• Identification of infrastructure needs.
• Selection and monitoring of Projects of Common Interest (PCIs).
• Cross-border cost allocation (CBCA).

ACER’s proposals aim to streamline procedures and accelerate the development of key energy infrastructure while reinforcing transparency, regulatory oversight and network planning governance across the EU.

What does ACER recommend?

ACER’s recommendations are grouped into two categories: measures aimed at strengthening the TEN-E process to address existing challenges, and those aimed at simplifying the process. 

ACER proposes practical measures to simplify the Ten-Year Network Development Plans (TYNDPs), streamline the selection and monitoring of Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) and recognise the value of alternative solutions, such as non-wire options, to increase electricity grid capacity. ACER recommends to:

• Strengthen regulatory oversight: enhance ACER’s role in overseeing key methodologies for scenario development and infrastructure planning at the European level.
• Improve identification and prioritisation of infrastructure needs: establish effective mechanisms where possible within the current framework to ensure that critical infrastructure gaps are identified and addressed with the most suitable solutions.
• Streamline and simplify TEN-E processes: build on lessons learned from network development, PCI selection and PCI monitoring for more efficient and transparent processes.

While some of ACER’s recommendations require amendments to the current legal framework, others could be achieved through better implementation of the existing regulatory framework.

What’s next?

1. The European Commission proposals to revise the TEN-E Regulation as part of the upcoming European Grids Package are expected in Q4 2025. 
2. ACER stands ready to engage in discussions with the EU co-legislators and stakeholders.

ACER releases today an Opinion assessing whether the European transmission system operators (TSOs) followed the EU legal and regulatory framework when performing their bidding zone review study published on 28 April 2025.

Currently, most bidding zones in the EU are defined by national borders. But, under EU law, bidding zones must be formed in a way that maximises economic efficiency and cross-zonal trading opportunities, while ensuring security of supply. To achieve this, a review of the existing bidding zones was needed to identify structural grid congestions and evaluate the potential benefits of alternative configurations.

In the review process, ACER role was to set the methodology and identify alternative bidding zone configurations for TSOs to consider in their review.

The TSOs’ report, which assesses 14 bidding zones configurations across Central and Northern Europe, is intended to help EU Member States decide whether to amend or keep the current bidding zones.

This ACER’s Opinion, addressed to the Council of the EU, assesses whether the TSOs’ study followed the agreed bidding zone review methodology and evaluates the impact of any deviations. It is not intended as a recommendation for Member States’ decisions.

What are the key findings? 

ACER finds the study broadly aligns with the EU framework but significantly underestimates the benefits of re-shaping Europe’s electricity bidding zones. ACER identifies two main shortcomings: 

• Central European TSOs’ coordination level in solving network congestions has been overestimated. Hence, the TSOs’ study undervalues the efficiency gains of alternative reconfigurations that split the bidding zone of Germany-Luxembourg and that link them up with a bidding zone reconfiguration in the Netherlands. ACER estimates the benefits of those configurations in the order of 450-540 million EUR per year, 70% higher than TSOs’ assessment.
• TSOs’ estimated costs for reconfiguring the bidding zones are based on limited stakeholders’ input and do not sufficiently reflect past experiences.

ACER acknowledges the significant work by TSOs and other stakeholders in the study and the overall positive collaboration. The ACER Opinion also draws some recommendations to ensure a more effective and efficient process going forward.

What are the next steps? 

Following the publication of the TSOs’ report (28 April 2025) Member States have six months to decide whether to amend the current bidding zones. If individual Member States wish to amend their bidding zone configuration, but no unanimous agreement is reached among the relevant parties, the European Commission (after consulting ACER) will have six months to decide.

• Ms Emmanuelle Wargon is the new Chair of the Board of Regulators of the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). 
• Mr George Niculescu is the new Vice-Chair of the ACER Board of Regulators. 
• Mr Volker Zuleger has been appointed Director ad interim of ACER. 

The Director manages the EU Agency. The Board of Regulators is one of the Agency’s governing bodies. It represents the national energy regulatory authorities in ACER. 

The Board of Regulator appointments were made, by consensus, at the 134^th meeting of the ACER Board of Regulators today in Copenhagen. Ms Wargon and Mr Niculescu succeed Ms Clara Poletti (Italy) and Mr Rafal Gawin (Poland), the outgoing Chair and Vice Chair respectively.

At national level, Ms Wargon is Chair of the ‘Commission de Régulation de l’Énergie (CRE)’, the French energy regulatory authority, since August 2022. Mr Niculescu is President of the ‘Autoritatea Nationala de Reglementare in domeniul Energiei (ANRE), the Romanian energy regulatory authority, since April 2023.

The ACER term of office of the new Chair and Vice Chair takes effect immediately, from 17 September 2025, for a two-and-a-half year mandate (which is renewable). 

The Chair and Vice-Chair member shall serve for a full term (2.5 years) or until the end of his/her membership of the Board of Regulators (i.e. if their term of office at national level ceases), whichever is earlier.

Mr Volker Zuleger was appointed Director ad interim of ACER, following a decision by the Agency’s Administrative Board on 12 September. He takes over as interim Director on 16 October 2025, ensuring the continuity of the service and the proper running of the Agency. He succeeds Mr Christian Zinglersen, who vacates the ACER Director post on 15 October to take up a new position elsewhere. 

Mr Zuleger is currently Head of ACER’s Coordination, Operations and Legal (COL) Department, having worked for the Agency in different roles for 14 years.

The next step is the recruitment of the new ACER Director. This selection process will follow an open and transparent procedure launched by the European Commission.

ACER congratulates Volker, Emmanuelle and George and pays tribute to the dedicated service of Christian, Clara and Rafal in their respective roles.

For more on the ACER governance and different roles, see the Agency's organisation and bodies.

On 4 August 2025, ACER received two proposals from all nominated electricity market operators (NEMOs) to amend the harmonised maximum and minimum clearing price (HMMCP) methodologies for the European day-ahead and intraday markets, respectively.

What are the methodologies about?

Established under the Capacity Allocation and Congestion Management (CACM) Regulation, the HMMCP methodologies describe the automatic price adjustment mechanisms and how they may be triggered in cases of exceptionally high or low prices in Europe’s electricity day-ahead and intraday markets. They also define the maximum and minimum price limits (the so called ‘maximum and minimum clearing prices’) for the European day-ahead and intraday markets.

Why amend the methodologies?

NEMOs propose to include an additional metric (based on market liquidity) among the conditions for triggering the automatic price adjustment mechanism. The purpose of such inclusion is to avoid the potential triggering of the automatic price adjustment mechanisms in cases of low liquidity in the European day-ahead and intraday markets.

What are the next steps? 

ACER expects to decide on the methodologies by February 2026. 

Contact information

Interested parties are encouraged to submit comments or questions to ACER-ELE-2025-008@acer.europa.eu by 31 October 2025.

Relevant documents

All NEMOs proposal to amend the HMMCP methodology for SDAC.

All NEMOs proposal to amend the HMMCP methodology for SDAC (in track changes).

All NEMOs proposal to amend the HMMCP methodology for SIDC.

All NEMOs proposal to amend the HMMCP methodology for SIDC (in track changes). 

Explanatory note - SDAC.

Explanatory note - SIDC.