The value of flexibility and the effect of an integrated European Intraday-Market

Due to the expansion of intermittent renewable energies like solar and wind in the European power system, the need for flexibility is increasing steadily. This paper evaluates and compares the forecast quality and the need for flexibility in the system due to wind energy in five EU countries and quantifies the influence of a “theoretical market coupling”. The latter analysis shows that a further integration of EU Intraday-markets can significantly reduce the amount of flexibility needed to compensate for forecast errors. Furthermore the coherence of price spreads between the EPEX Day-Ahead and Intraday-market is analyzed.