15-minute Settlement

The Nordic Transmission System Operators have decided to switch from 1 hour to 15 minutes imbalance settlement period.
The transition is separated into multiple phases.

The Nordic Transmission System Operators have decided to switch from 1 hour to 15 minutes imbalance settlement period. The transition is separated into multiple phases.

The go-live date for the 15-minute imbalance settlement period (ISP) in eSett was on Monday May 22, 2023 at 00.00 CET.

Below are listed the status of different business areas and their expected go-live timings.

Cross-border Intraday trading switches from hourly resolution to 15-minute resolution. This covers both continuous intraday trading and intraday auctions. The first trades on a quarter-hourly level will be conducted on 18.3.2025, for the following delivery day of 19.3.2025 in CET. Balance responsible parties are expected to utilize this possibility and commit to a balance planned with 15-minute resolution.

Additionally, imbalance prices, and dominating directions will be calculated separately for each 15-minute imbalance settlement period. This may cause more fluctuation in the prices and makes it more crucial for Balance Responsible Parties to balance themselves within the 15-minute imbalance settlement periods.

Along with the 15-minute pricing, the way how the imbalance fee is applied, will change in all countries except Finland. For delivery days until the end of 18.3.2025 the current hourly netted imbalance fee will be applied. Starting from the delivery day on 19.3.2025, the netting will be removed, and a 15-minute imbalance fee will be applied. Due to the Terms and Conditions, the same change will be applied in Finland once the day-ahead trading switches from hourly to 15-minute resolution.

Day-ahead trading will switch from hourly to 15-minute resolution starting from the delivery day on 12.6.2025, according to current plan. The first trades on quarter-hourly level will be conducted on 11.6.2025, for the following delivery day of 12.6.2025.

Together with the day-ahead trading change, eSett will stop converting the bilateral trades that are reported on hourly level. This means that any BRP still be sending bilateral trades on hourly resolution to eSett will need to update their reporting into 15-minute resolution before that date. Any BITI messages sent to eSett with hourly resolution on 12.6.2025, or later will be rejected.

Finally, eSett will support the remaining outgoing hourly-level data packages approximately one year from the switch to 15-minute intraday trading and pricing. Therefore, the data packages will be supported approximately until March 2026. A more exact timing will be announced closer to the date.

For additional information, please see the information on nordicbalancingmodel.net, and on the national TSO websites:

We recommend subscribing to our newsletter to learn more about the upcoming changes in the market.