Portugal and Spain are officially operational members of MARI

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Current Overview of MARI

Since our article on Europe’s Ancillary Services Market platforms, three new countries (Portugal, Spain, and Slovakia) have become operational members of MARI. Portugal and Spain’s integration into the European platform was prepared throughout 2024, including the transition from an hourly to quarterly bid resolution, in compliance with European mFRR service regulations.

As of now, the MARI platform includes 9 operational members and 15 non-operational members, as shown in Figure 1.

How is Iberia exchanging with central Europe?

Participation in the MARI platform provides Balancing Services Providers (BSPs) with access to a larger pool of balancing offers. Since joining, Red Eléctrica has successfully registered trades with Czechia, demonstrating the effectiveness of this solution in opening access to new markets.

This success was made possible by the French TSO voluntarily adopting the Available Transmission Capacity (ATC) sharing framework.  This framework allows any unused  transmission capacity, after meeting grid requirements, to be allocated for commercial use.  Although France is a non-operational member of MARI, this framework facilitates the transmission of regulation services between the Spanish and German borders. However, cross-border trading remains subject to the limitations of the  Cross-Border Capacity Limit (CBCL); i.e. the maximum amount of power that can be transferred between bidding zones; and economic competitiveness.

What to expect from joining MARI?

The MARI platform facilitates cross-border trading of mFRR services, providing Iberian BSPs with access to a larger pool of balancing offers. Additionally, the growing share of renewable energy over the next years is expected to drive higher demand for balancing services. This expanded market access combined with a higher demand, increases the likelihood of bid activation, thereby enhancing the revenue potential for renewable generators.

However, this opportunity comes with the challenge of increased competition. By integrating with MARI, Iberian balancing needs are exposed to a bigger market, potentially leading to downward pressure on prices.

Whether the trade-off between the higher chance of activation and decreased mFRR prices improves the revenue of renewable generators, depends on the relative competitiveness of Iberian markets compared to the MARI operational countries. Keeping this in mind, it will be essential  to keep in check market developments to assess how these changes might affect revenue streams.