27/01/2023

ERSE – the Energy Services Regulatory Authority - hosted the Seminar “Prospects for the Design of the Electricity Market” on 26 January 2023, which brought together around 900 participants in a hybrid format (onsite and online), to promote a broad reflection on the prospects for the redesign of the European electricity market.

This was the first national public debate organised by ERSE on the reform of the European electricity market, a topic that the European Commission has put out to Public Consultation until 13 February, and which was attended by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate, Ana Fontoura Gouveia, at the closing session.  

As the energy crisis, triggered by the post-Covid global economic recovery and exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, exposed some of the shortcomings of the current market model, making room for improvements, ERSE saw it as an opportunity to promote a broad national discussion with the various stakeholders, from consumers to retail, supply and wholesale market agents, including network operators and market operators.

According to the European Commission, the reform of the current European electricity market design aims to protect domestic and industrial consumers from excessive price volatility, increase market resilience and speed up the energy transition, and ensure secure access to renewable energy.

In his opening speech,  Pedro Verdelho, the Chairman of ERSE’s Board of Directors, highlighted the resilience of the Portuguese retail market which, unlike other European markets, has shown greater stability, allowing residential consumers and small and medium-sized enterprises to be less exposed to price volatility.

“Portugal is a good example in this regard, and so it is not surprising that some of the measures now proposed by the European Commission were anticipated by Portugal”, he stressed.

The solid performance of the Portuguese retail market in this energy crisis was, in fact, one of the points widely mentioned by the majority of the speakers at the event.

Another idea that has met with greater consensus was that the reform of the design of the European electricity market should not be a reform, but rather an evolution of the marginalist model and that it should provide price signals that allow investment in renewables in order to safeguard the energy transition process.

The arguments supporting long-term contracting and the reinforcement of storage capacity, as well as the creation of markets for flexibility services for the dynamic and secure operation of the networks were also important.

The Secretary of State for Energy, Ana Fontoura Gouveia, who closed the seminar, supported three central lines of action in the redesign of the market: predictability and stability through long-term contracts; the relevance of daily and intraday short-term markets in balancing supply and demand and providing a price signal; promoting the resilience of the electric system through a diversified production mix and strengthening interconnections between countries, both for electricity and for renewable gases.

For more information, take a look at the speeches

- The Chairman of ERSE’s Board of Directors, Pedro Verdelho

- “Perspetiva da oferta e do mercado grossista” - Jorge Lúcio – GALP

- “Perspetivas para o desenho do mercado elétrico – Visão do Operador da Rede de Transporte” – Pedro Furtado – REN

- “Perspetivas para o desenho do mercado elétrico – Perspetiva da E-REDES” – José Ferrari Careto – E-REDES

- “Perspetivas para o desenho do mercado elétrico” –Rafael Gómez-Elvira González – OMIE

-  “Perspetivas para o desenho do mercado elétrico” – Jorge Simão – OMIP

Subscribe to ERSE’s Youtube channel and watch the seminar session “Perspectives for Electricity Market Design”.

Watch the video