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 amended in 2024 to ensure the regulatory framework keeps pace with evolving market dynamics.

Now, ACER has updated its Questions & Answers (Q&As) on REMIT to incorporate the changes introduced in the amended regulation. 

The Q&A document (first published in 2011) summarises frequently asked questions about REMIT and their answers. It provides market participants and other stakeholders with information on REMIT definitions, market participant obligations, transaction reporting, and more.

What’s new in the updated Q&As?

This 30^th edition aims to align the document’s legal references with the revised regulation and clarify key concepts, including:

• new obligations for third-country market participants;

• order book reporting by organised marketplaces; and

• the expansion of REMIT’s scope to include new products (such as energy storage and hydrogen). 

The revised Q&As provide clearer explanations of reporting and compliance aspects, helping market participants to better understand the new requirements.

For additional questions about REMIT implementation and data reporting, stakeholders are encouraged to:

• check ACER guidance documents; or

• submit their queries via the REMIT query form.

With its Decision 03-2025, ACER has approved a proposal from Nominated Electricity Market Operators (NEMOs) to amend the single intraday coupling (SIDC) products methodology. 

Why is single intraday market coupling important? 

Before ‘market coupling’ was introduced in the EU, cross-border power grid capacity and electricity had to be bought separately. Now, market coupling (day-ahead and intraday) allocates scarce cross-border grid capacity efficiently by coupling wholesale electricity markets in different regions, while taking into account cross-border power grid constraints. 

With the growth in intermittent renewables (e.g. wind and solar), there is a growing interest in intraday trading for market participants to be in balance after the closure of the day-ahead market and as close to real time as possible. This flexibility benefits both market participants and power systems. 

What is the methodology about?

The SIDC products methodology is defined by the Capacity Allocation and Congestion Management (CACM) Regulation. The methodology specifies the types of products that can be traded within the EU’s continuous single intraday market and in intraday auctions. Here, trading begins the day before delivery and continues through the day of delivery, supporting real-time adjustments to supply and demand across borders.

Why did ACER amend the methodology and what’s new?

The update aligns the SIDC products methodology with the single day-ahead coupling (SDAC) products methodology (amended in September 2024 to allow 15-minute trading). With this change, market participants will be able to trade electricity in 15-minute intervals in both day-ahead and intraday markets, resulting in enhanced market flexibility.

Harmonising trading rules across both markets is necessary to comply with the EU Electricity Regulation and reduce entry barriers for market participants trading short-term products. 

What are the next steps? 

NEMOs are required to implement the amendments promptly after adoption.

Today, ACER publishes its report on electricity network tariff methodologies. This report analyses how network tariffs are set across the EU and how network costs are allocated across different network users (e.g. generators, consumers, battery facilities or other storage operators). 

The report enhances transparency and comparability in electricity network tariff setting by sharing national practices. It also examines and offers insights into various tariff challenges faced by energy regulators. 

How is it relevant to the European Commission’s Action Plan for Affordable Energy?

Network charges finance the operation and upgrade of the power grid. ACER has repeatedly flagged that, for EU competitiveness, network costs need to be contained as they are one of the main drivers of electricity costs.

Action 1 of the European Commission’s Action Plan for Affordable Energy (February 2025) is to make electricity prices more affordable. The ACER tariff practices report, which emphasises fair and cost-reflective electricity network tariffs, is timely as the European Commission puts forward (Q2 2025) a design of tariff methodologies for network charges to incentivise the use of flexibility and investments in electrification.

What are ACER’s key messages? 

• Getting the price signals right is key. As the energy transition advances, network costs are expected to rise (possibly to double by 2050) and account for a bigger share of the electricity bill (see ACER report on electricity infrastructure, December 2024). This calls for a regular ‘fitness check’ by regulators of network tariff methodologies. Ensuring the network tariffs send the right price signals optimises grid use and keeps network costs down.
• Containing the rise in network costs is important for EU competitiveness and affordable electricity. Future-proof measures should ensure all network users receive signals for flexibility and system efficiency, rather than unduly shifting costs among them.
• Network tariffs should be cost-reflective to encourage users to adapt their behaviour. Together with market prices, they provide a combined price signal, influencing users’ electricity generation and consumption patterns. 
• Two-thirds of EU countries have recently made (or plan to make) major revisions to their network tariff methodologies. Many of these changes align with ACER’s past recommendations (including increasing the use of power-based tariffs in alignment with the cost-causality principle, introducing time-of-use signals and removing unjustified discounts).
• Local power system context matters. No ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution can be easily found: this ACER report presents select national practices from which regulators can draw inspiration to increase system efficiencies and keep electricity network costs down, tailoring them to local needs.

ACER offers 10 principles for national regulatory authorities (NRAs) to consider when setting or approving their next electricity transmission or distribution tariff methodologies. These aim to:

• enhance transparency and comparability of network tariff methodologies;
• ensure non-discrimination among network users;
• promote cost-reflectivity and efficient price signals; and
• foster stakeholder engagement before major methodology revisions.

What are the next steps?

ACER will continue to facilitate the exchange of best practices among NRAs, engaging closely with stakeholders to gain valuable insights.  

ACER stands ready to support the European Commission as it develops its guidance on the design of electricity network methodologies (2025) and its Electrification and Grids Package (2026).

ACER kicks off its 2025 Monitoring Report series with key insights into the EU energy markets, highlighting major developments in 2024, and examining the interplay between gas and electricity markets in the energy transition.

What are the key findings?

The report highlights progress towards Europe’s transition to clean energy, persistent challenges (such as high and volatile energy prices for European consumers and businesses), and how to address them. It sets out ACER’s recommendations on how Europe can unlock a clean, secure and competitive energy future.

• 2024 recorded the lowest energy prices since 2021, but with noticeable regional differences. Gas prices averaged 34 €/MWh and electricity averaged 81 €/MWh. The surge in negative and very low prices in 2023 intensified in 2024.
• Energy market prices remained volatile (but less extreme than during the crisis), driven by gas supply risks and renewables’ variability. Frequent swings in electricity prices (within a day) persist – on 70% of days, electricity price variations within the day reached 50€ or higher. Electricity price swings reveal a need for more short-term flexibility.
• Renewables grew significantly, accounting for 35% of power generation. Solar power confirmed its leading role in the energy transition whilst nuclear and hydro came back.
• Europe’s clean energy transition faces persistent challenges. Gas supply risks and unpredictable weather later in the year kept market prices volatile. In December, a ‘dunkelflaute’ episode in Germany sent electricity prices to nearly 1,000 €/MWh (far above the 81 €/MWh annual average). 
• Gas as a flexibility provider. Fossil fuels, especially gas and coal, remain essential for meeting peak electricity demand.

ACER’s recommendations to address these challenges:

For decarbonisation and global competitiveness, Europe must place renewed effort on further expanding EU energy market integration, enhancing energy efficiency, and driving power grid innovation:

• Target new transition cost drivers: Network costs are at risk of doubling by 2050. Enhancing grid capacity (rather than new build) is part of the solution. Better network tariffs and 'efficiency first' incentives to prevent stranded assets play an important role. Ensure capacity, flexibility, and renewables remain affordable while securing long-term supply.
• Harness energy efficiency and flexibility: Use demand response, electric vehicles (EVs), and batteries to balance supply and demand, cut price swings, and strengthen grid resilience, especially at peak times.
• Expand energy market integration: Support cross-border renewable use for flexibility and security. Strengthen interconnections to cut fossil fuel reliance and build trust in Europe’s energy markets.

Looking ahead 

In its 2025 Monitoring Report series, ACER will continue to pave the way for a clean, secure and competitive energy future by shedding light on:

• strengthened cross-border cooperation;
• energy transition monitoring; and
• efficient grid investment.

Upcoming reports:

• ACER's Monitoring Report on removing barriers to demand response (to be published here on 8 April).
• ACER’s report on EU electricity tariff practices (coming on 26 March).

In October 2024, ACER published its assessment on the need to develop Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) contract templates in the EU energy markets, concluding that existing templates, developed by industry associations and national bodies, are largely sufficient for current market needs.

To support market participants and facilitate PPA contracting, ACER has committed to gathering and publishing a list of publicly available templates on its website.

What are PPAs?

PPAs are contractual arrangements between electricity producers (often renewable energy generators) and buyers. By providing renewable electricity at mutually agreed rates, these contracts foster stability for both parties and promote renewable energy sources (RES).

Share your template!

ACER invites stakeholders to submit their PPA templates (not actual contracts), along with the following information:

• Organisation name.
• Link to the online template (do not submit PDFs or Word documents).
• Functional email address.
• Date of the last update.
• Jurisdiction, applicable legal basis and any comments.
• Language of the template.

Please submit the requested information to PPA.assessment@acer.europa.eu by 11 April 2025.

What are the next steps? 

After the deadline, ACER will publish the collected templates and continue to update the list throughout the year.

Today, ACER publishes its second monitoring report on the reporting obligations of Regional Coordination Centres (RCCs).

Regional Coordination Centres (RCCs) were introduced in 2022 under the Electricity Regulation to facilitate coordination among electricity transmission system operators (TSOs) across regions. Their aim is to enhance grid stability, foster security of supply, and contribute to the EU’s climate and energy goals.

As part of their reporting obligations, RCCs are required to detail the outcomes of their activities, including:

• operational performance monitoring;
• coordinated actions;
• issued recommendations; and
• designated tasks.

What is ACER’s report about?

Since 2023, ACER has been monitoring RCC reporting, as required by the ACER Regulation.

ACER’s second monitoring report provides an overview of how RCCs fulfilled their reporting obligations in 2023, their first full year of operation. The report was drafted in close cooperation with national regulatory authorities (NRAs), with input from the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) and RCCs.

What did ACER monitoring find? 

RCCs provided detailed reporting on nine out of sixteen tasks:

• coordinated capacity calculation;

• coordinated security analysis;

• common grid model;

• consistency defence and restoration plans; 

• short-term adequacy;

• outage planning coordination;

• training and certification; 

• post-disturbance analysis; and 

• regional sizing of reserve capacity.

ACER finds that, compared to their initial period of operation (i.e. the second half of 2022, where no tasks were fully implemented by all RCCs), important progress was made. Specifically, all RCCs reported having implemented four tasks: 

• common grid model;
• post-disturbance analysis;
• outage planning coordination; and
• short-term adequacy.

Additionally, coordinated capacity calculation is now operational in most RCCs, though further development is needed for long-term timeframes.

RCCs reported challenges in the performance of some of their tasks, including:

• coordinated capacity calculation (e.g. missing or invalid TSOs’ inputs);
• coordinated security assessment and outage planning coordination (e.g. inadequate IT infrastructure);
• common grid model (e.g. performance issues); and
• post-disturbance analysis (e.g. communication issues).

What does ACER conclude?

ACER encourages RCCs to:

• Ensure swift implementation of their tasks.
• Clarify how responsibilities are rotated among RCCs.
• Improve the performance of the common grid model task and regularly report on any obstacles encountered.
• Extend capacity calculation to cover all timeframes (including long-term and balancing timeframes). 
• Broaden outage planning coordination to include power-generating modules and demand facilities.
• Assess whether relevant RCCs can contribute to the system monitoring of TSOs where necessary. 
• Improve the quality of RCC reporting by providing more detailed and clear information.

What are the next steps?

The next ACER monitoring report is scheduled for late 2025 and will cover the 2024 reporting period (monitored by ACER during 2025).