Quarterly intervals: Exchange electricity prices calculated at shorter intervals

The changeover of electricity trading on the day-ahead exchange from hourly to quarter-hourly intervals is imminent. The change will also affect customers who use dynamic electricity tariffs.

The electricity supplier Tibber has now announced this change for its customers. Up to now, they have been able to benefit from the hourly price curve on the day-ahead exchange by shifting plannable electricity consumption in times of low exchange prices. A higher resolution increases the flexibility with which consumption planning for electricity supply can be carried out from June.

Dynamic electricity prices to stabilize the grid

According to current plans, the day-ahead auction will be switched to quarter-hourly intervals on June 11, 2025. The conversion will take place on the EPEX exchange and is part of an EU directive that impacts “all electricity companies that purchase their volumes on the exchange” – currently still shows prices with an hourly resolution.

Customers with dynamic electricity tariffs, which all suppliers have had to offer since the beginning of the year, can therefore plan more flexibly and benefit from the higher time resolution, as they are no longer tied to hourly limits. This should relieve the pressure on the electricity grids as consumption is better adapted to the feed-in. EpexSpot already allows the display of quarter-hour intervals.

With dynamic electricity tariffs, suppliers can use either a reading attachment for digital electricity meters or smart meters to record consumption more precisely in terms of time and thus allocate it to the electricity prices at the times on the exchange. A lot of cheap renewable energy is available in the electricity grids around lunchtime, meaning that prices can also be negative, at least on the exchanges. Consumers can take advantage of this by timing the use of electrical appliances when electricity prices are low and thus reduce their electricity bills.

(dmk)