Harmonization of Imbalance Settlement Period Across Europe: the Curious Case of Baltic Energy Markets

In accordance with legal framework developed by European Commission all EU Member States shall employ 15-minute time resolution for imbalance settlement no later than 18
^th
of December 2020 (or 1
^st
of January 2025 in case of derogation). This presents a unique challenge for the Baltics, currently using 60-minute imbalance settlement period, as Baltics are synchronized with Integrated Power System/ Unified Power System of Russia (IPS/UPS) synchronous area where different legal framework applies. Based on these special conditions we, firstly, define parameters directly linked with imbalance settlement period and then analyze advantages and disadvantages of alternative approaches and propose implementation model to be used as an input for national policy makers.