Issue 04 · 25 September 2026

This week’s takeaways

1. Balancing-market access is widening. The European Union, Croatia and Denmark have adopted or consulted on changes that lower barriers for batteries and smaller flexibility providers.
2. Grid-connection terms are becoming more standardised. France, Denmark and Sweden are moving away from case-by-case arrangements to reduce administrative burdens and shorten connection timelines.
3. Large electricity users face new grid obligations. Ireland and Northern Ireland are bringing large data-centre loads into fault-ride-through rules.

HOW TO READ THIS

↑ Tailwind ↓ Headwind • Neutral

Direction is our assessment of the likely effect on developers and investors, not a score of importance. Neutral means there is no clear overall direction, not that an item has no impact. Potential marks proposals and other conditional effects.

Our six themes

Market Design · Grid · Environmental Markets · Taxes, Subsidies and Public Programmes · Siting, Permitting and Land Use · Supply Chains

The regulatory picture

Updates covered in this edition, grouped by their likely effect on developers and investors. Bar length shows the number of updates, not impact size. Cross-border measures appear in each affected market.

↑ Tailwind • Neutral ↓ Headwind

THIS WEEK’S MARKET DEEP DIVE

Ireland and Northern Ireland · Grid · ↓ Potential Headwind

Ireland brings data centres into grid-fault rules

On 22 September 2026, regulators in Ireland and Northern Ireland both ruled that large electricity users, mainly data centres, must stay connected when the grid has a sudden fault.

In Ireland, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) approved a Grid Code Modification that covers existing and new sites from 27 October 2026. The Utility Regulator for Northern Ireland (UREGNI) approved a similar proposal from the System Operator of Northern Ireland (SONI) with the same goal, but since there are no existing or expected data centres in the country, the rule only covers future connections.

A grid must match supply and use every second, or its frequency drifts and equipment trips off. During a brief voltage dip, most data centres cut their grid use and switch to backup power to protect their computers. When many do this simultaneously, a large block of demand vanishes while power stations keep generating.

Most of these large loads cannot comply yet, so they can seek a temporary exemption: 24 months for data centres, five years for other large users. Data centres have six months to submit a compliance plan, and their exemption may include a cap on how much of their contracted grid capacity they can use before compliance. Other large users have 12 months to submit a plan and no usage cap.

While this could act as a limit to data centre growth in Ireland, once enough are in compliance, it could reduce the need to maintain a minimum number of conventional units (gas, coal, and hydropower) online, making more room for wind and solar.

What to watch: The compliance plans and any conditions attached to temporary exemptions will determine how much contracted grid capacity affected sites can use while they upgrade.

ACER harmonises access to balancing platforms

The Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) approved two decisions previously adopted by EU transmission system operators (TSOs) that update how demand-response assets qualify for PICASSO and MARI, the cross-border platforms for sourcing automatic and manual frequency restoration reserves (aFRR and mFRR). Under the new rules, TSOs are required to survey stakeholders every two years and jointly propose new terms to harmonise participation in these platforms. ACER also introduced three routes for prequalification and a simplified process for smaller participants. In addition to the existing full activation test, there is now an ex-post verification process and a fast-track route, both of which will provide battery energy storage systems (BESS) and other flexibility providers with an avenue to more quickly begin earning revenue from balancing markets. TSOs have six months to submit national alignment proposals to their regulators. After approval, they have 24 months to implement the harmonised prequalification process.

Commission reviews the EU ETS and Market Stability Reserve

The European Commission is reviewing the core EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and the Market Stability Reserve mechanism. Any change to these systems would impact the carbon price that ETS-exposed electricity generators would pay. The Commission’s proposals are open for feedback to inform the legislative debate.

EU opens applications for priority infrastructure status

The European Commission opened an application window for cross-border grid infrastructure projects to obtain Projects of Common Interest or Projects of Mutual Interest status. Obtaining one of these designations grants a project an accelerated permitting process and eligibility for EU funding. They are accepting applications from projects that fall into one of three categories: electricity, smart electricity grids, or smart gas grids. Electricity projects include transmission and storage. The deadline for electricity projects to apply is 13 November 2026; the deadline for other projects is 4 December 2026.

EU consults on data-centre performance standards

The European Commission published a data centre energy efficiency package that includes a proposal for a common rating scheme to label data centres and a call for evidence on establishing binding minimum standards for data centres’ energy and environmental performance.

Nordic operators set Q4 reserve procurement volumes

For Q4 2026, the Nordic transmission system operators (TSOs) set downward automatic frequency restoration reserve (aFRR) procurement at 250 to 300 MW and upward procurement at 200 to 250 MW, depending on the hour. Finland's daytime downward requirement is 275 MW. Lower procurement in some hours reduces the available revenue pool for flexibility providers. The operator notices are available from Fingrid, Statnett, Svenska kraftnät.

All-island system-services procurement moves towards market rules

The Single Electricity Market Committee is accepting public comment on modifications to EirGrid’s and the System Operator for Northern Ireland (SONI) framework for procuring frequency response, operating reserve, and other system services in line with EU electricity market rules. The proposed changes would create a firm obligation for both transmission system operators to procure stability services through market mechanisms, rather than through bilaterally negotiated contracts with providers, which is the current model. Requiring grid operators to purchase these services on the open market favours fast, flexible, and cheap technologies, such as battery energy storage systems (BESS).

Italy and Switzerland consult on continuous intraday allocation

Terna and Swissgrid, the transmission system operators for Italy and Switzerland, respectively, jointly launched a public consultation on introducing an intraday continuous capacity allocation mechanism on their shared border. The purpose of this mechanism would be to enable more efficient cross-border trading, which would improve generators’ ability to re-trade positions close to delivery. This is of particular importance for intermittent energy resources, since generators can correct their positions up until the moment of delivery, significantly reducing forecasting error.

Belgium reviews black-start procurement oversight

The Belgian Commission for Electricity and Gas Regulation (CREG) is consulting on its assessment of black-start procurement by Elia, Belgium’s transmission system operator. It proposes retaining ex-post price oversight because an unregulated market would not currently assure availability at reasonable prices. Black-start services refer to the capability to restart parts of the grid after a total blackout. While these services have traditionally come from thermal and hydro assets, the consultation recognises that battery systems with black-start capabilities are emerging.

Croatia introduces four-hour reserve auctions

The Croatian transmission system operator (HOPS) established new rules for tendering automatic frequency restoration reserves (aFRR) and manual frequency restoration reserves (mFRR). Reserve capacity will now be auctioned in four-hour blocks on a day-ahead basis. Flexibility providers can also connect through machine-to-machine data links, which is intended to allow for automated bidding. Croatia’s balancing market previously operated through whole-day reserve tenders and manual bid submissions. More trading blocks increases the ability of flexibility providers to optimise their positions, while automated bidding removes a participation barrier.

Denmark adds DKK65 million to business energy grants

The Danish Energy Agency added 65 million kr. (~€8,695,570) to a grant pool that provides private companies funding for moving away from fossil fuels. The agency reports that demand for support through this scheme exceeded what the previously allocated budget could cover, so the extra money is intended to create more space for additional companies to receive funding. The 2026 round will close on 30 November 2026 to align with the end of the agency’s budget year.

Denmark removes the onshore wind-turbine ceiling

Minister of Climate, Energy, and Utilities Samira Nawa abolished the national ceiling on onshore wind turbines. The ceiling created an artificial roadblock on renewable energy development that would have eventually required planning authorities to block new turbines or decommission old ones. The ministry projects that the country will reach approximately 3,300 turbines by 2040, which would have exceeded the cap by more than 1,450 turbines. Additionally, the ministry noted that the number of onshore wind turbines in Denmark has actually decreased, due in large part to the increasing power of newer machines.

Denmark standardises grid-company fee calculations

The Danish Utility Regulator accepted a guidance document from Green Power Denmark, the country’s largest clean energy business organisation, which creates a shared fee-calculation method to simplify grid companies’ approval process. Under the existing framework, every grid company has to get its fee calculation method individually approved. A common framework therefore eliminates the administrative burden of repeated reviews and should help developers working with multiple grid companies get their connections approved more quickly.

Denmark proposes a 0.1 MW fast-reserve threshold

In April, Energinet, Denmark’s transmission system operator, filed a methodology change to reduce the minimum fast frequency reserve (FFR) bid size from 0.3 MW to 0.1 MW. This week, the Danish Utility Regulator (Forsyningstilsynet) officially submitted that change for public comment. A lower minimum bid size lowers the threshold at which battery energy storage systems (BESS) can enter FFR bids.

Denmark consults on long-term grid planning assumptions

The Danish Energy Agency is holding a public hearing on the demand, generation, and cost assumptions underpinning Energinet’s biennial Long-Term Development Plan. These assumptions will shape the amount of demand and generation that Energinet plans to meet with additional transmission capacity. This will directly impact a project developer’s timeline and cost exposure for future grid connections. A consultation meeting was scheduled for 23 September 2026 and the deadline for written responses is 30 September 2026.

Denmark consults on renewable acceleration areas

The Danish Energy Agency has opened for public comment a revision to an executive order to implement the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive’s acceleration-area mechanism, which aims to expedite the permitting process for renewable energy, grid, and storage projects located in certain designated zones. These projects would receive a statutory presumption that it serves the public interest, allowing them to bypass certain environmental reviews and procedural steps.

Fingrid extends the balancing-fee waiver to November

Fingrid elected to waive the production and consumption fees for balance responsible parties (BRPs) for the months of October and November due to lower than expected reserve costs and better than expected results in its balancing trading. This is a direct, though temporary, reduction in the balancing bills for Finnish BRPs.

Finland consults on Nuclear Energy Act regulations

The Ministry of Employment and the Economy put out for public comment four regulations under the country’s new Nuclear Energy Act. They concern material surveillance, waste management, and explosives manufacturing.

Finland proposes a register for data centres

The Ministry of Employment and the Economy is accepting public comment on a draft law to require every data centre with at least 0.5 MW of installed IT power demand to register with the government and disclose their network impacts. The National Emergency Supply Agency would maintain the register and monitor companies’ compliance, an attempt to create a comprehensive picture of both existing and planned data centres in Finland, including their purposes, ownership, and electricity consumption.

France opens a call for greener data-centre equipment

The French government issued a call for projects that address the environmental impact of data centres.

France proposes standard connection contracts in island grids

The Energy Regulatory Commission opened a public consultation on a draft contract that lays out the conditions distributors and generators in France’s non-interconnected zones must agree to before a plant can inject power. The non-interconnected zones include Corsica and overseas territories, which are not connected to the mainland grid. A standardised contract should reduce negotiation timelines and legal costs for developers in these markets.

Germany consults on electricity planning scenarios

Germany’s Federal Network Agency is accepting public comment on a draft scenario framework for the 2027 electricity planning cycle, covering scenarios for 2040 and 2045. This framework sets demand-and-supply assumptions that undergird Germany’s grid development plans. (BNetzA)

Greece consults on cross-border capacity rules

The Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water is taking consultation on a proposed amendment to the Greek Grid Management Code that sets a route to market coupling with non-EU members of the Energy Community, including Albania and North Macedonia. Coupling would require adoption of EU electricity-market rules, technical and contractual readiness, and a further regulatory decision. It could widen access to cross-border trading for Greek generators.

Ireland consults on non-price offshore wind criteria

The Department of Climate, Energy, and the Environment is soliciting comments on how to apply Article 26 of the EU’s Net-Zero Industry Act to future offshore wind auctions under Ireland’s Offshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (ORESS). Under Article 26, relevant auctions within renewable energy support schemes must include non-price criteria as prequalification requirements or award criteria, but ORESS currently uses a price-only mechanism. Non-price criteria under Article 26 include sustainability, resilience, and cybersecurity, which would make supply chain decisions commercially relevant for support under the updated scheme.

Tonn Nua offshore grid plans open for comment

EirGrid opened a public consultation on part of its grid development process for connecting offshore wind in the Tonn Nua maritime area, which sits off the coast of counties Cork and Wexford. The grid operator wants feedback on landfall zones, offshore transmission cable corridors, offshore substation zones, onshore grid-connection subzones, and onshore cable route corridors. Once built, the infrastructure will support roughly 900 MW of offshore renewable generation.

Italy consults on aggregated balancing resources

Terna is accepting feedback on updates to its Network Code and its Load Frequency Control Block Operational Agreement that would expand and adjust how aggregated resources participate in Italy’s manual frequency restoration reserve (mFRR) balancing market. These rules determine whether and how battery energy storage systems (BESS) or demand response systems participate in the balancing market.

Netherlands reviews balancing-party collateral

The Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) is accepting public comments on a draft amendment to the electricity system’s method for calculating collateral that balance responsible parties (BRPs) must provide to TenneT. A higher collateral cost for operating as a BRP would increase working capital costs.

Netherlands consults on multiple market-operator arrangements

TenneT asked ACM to approve a rule change for the Nominated Electricity Market Operators (NEMOs), who match electricity supply and demand. The EU’s Capacity Allocation and Congestion Management Regulation requires TenneT to determine how the Netherlands’ two NEMOs interact. The amendment seeks to address what happens if one NEMO cannot complete market coupling, which should reduce the risk that a technical fault distorts prices. ACM opened up the proposal for public consultation.

Finnmark wind applications gain three months

The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate agreed to push back a common deadline for submitting licence applications and impact assessments for eleven wind projects in the Finnmark region in northern Norway. The decision gives the developers of these projects additional time to complete the required impact studies, reducing the risk that the projects will be rejected. However, it also delays the entire region’s development timetable by three months. The deadline has been moved from 1 November 2026 to 31 January 2027.

ANRE updates capacity, energy-sharing and loss rules

The National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) approved a series of rules changes at its latest meeting. One item approves an amendment to how countries in the Core Capacity Calculation Region calculate cross-border intraday capacity, while another creates a new methodology for pricing distributed generation to ensure costs are accurately allocated when members of a renewable energy community share power. ANRE also amended a technical norm on how grid losses are calculated on public networks.

Romania revises multi-site prosumer settlement

ANRE republished its draft methodology for how prosumers who own generators at multiple sites can net the value of their exported electricity across locations. The methodology would create a single monthly allocation cycle to eliminate out-of-cycle reallocation due to late-arriving meter data or corrected invoices. It also adds an option to reserve leftover credited value against existing bills rather than automatically paying every unallocated amount at each invoice’s due date. The allocation formulas are still to be decided.

Slovakia reviews trading continuity and production forecasts

OKTE, which operates Slovakia’s short-term electricity market, is taking public comment on amendments to its operating rules. Included among the changes is an adjustment that ensures 15-minute trading continues even during an outage. Renewable plants will also be required to send annual production forecasts to OKTE.

Sweden surveys grid-connection costs

The Energy Market Inspectorate sent a survey to Swedish grid companies to collect data to inform new standard values for grid connection charges for projects with a fuse rating up to 25 amperes. This would replace the current case-by-case methodology for establishing “reasonable” charges. The companies must respond by 25 September 2026.

Swiss solar auctions give larger tied bids priority

Pronovo is changing its tie-breaking procedure for companies bidding into its public solar photovoltaic support scheme auctions. When several bidders submit identical prices, these bids will be sorted by size, with the largest installation receiving the bid first (assuming it fits inside the remaining volume). If the largest bid does not fit, the next-largest bid will be tested, and on and on until the available volume has been exhausted. The goal is to increase the amount of auction volume that is actually tendered.

Switzerland consults on wind siting plans

The Federal Office for Spatial Development opened a cantonal hearing and public comment process on the federal government’s spatial planning instrument, which determines onshore wind siting decisions. The goal is to create greater certainty for planning authorities and project developers to increase the likelihood of wind projects getting built.

Eight grid operators seek capacity-unlocking technologies

Swissgrid, along with seven other European transmission system operators (TSOs), launched an open call for innovative technologies to reduce grid bottlenecks and unlock existing transmission capacity. The group is specifically interested in four categories of technologies: monitoring, forecasting, and sensors; transmission system management; capacity expansion and grid system performance improvement; and cross-sector technologies.

Northern Ireland adopts large-load fault-ride-through rules

The Northern Irish decision is analysed alongside the Irish rules in this week’s deep dive, including the different treatment of future connections.

NESO consults on its annual financial model

The National Energy System Operator (NESO) published its annual Financial Model Consultation, as required by Ofgem. This mechanism impacts transmission charges and the costs British electricity generators pay to connect to the grid. Any change to this model will affect the network costs for renewable energy projects.

UK seeks evidence on new capacity-market technologies

Alongside the below capacity market rule changes, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) published an open letter asking for evidence on emerging technologies that do not fit into existing generating technology classes but could contribute to the security of Great Britain’s electricity supply.

UK proposes capacity-market delivery and derating changes

DESNZ proposed three changes to capacity market rules: enhanced delivery assurance, a more precise derating methodology, and increased transparency to support enforcement. Stricter delivery assurance means all capacity market participants will face a higher compliance threshold, while a change to the derating methodology will impact how much revenue a flexibility asset can earn.

UK seeks evidence on AI in clean energy

DESNZ issued a call for evidence to inform the ‘UK AI for Clean Energy Strategy’. They are seeking feedback from industry, academics, regulators, and system operators on the opportunities, risks, barriers, and long-term impacts of integrating AI in the UK’s energy system. Additionally, they are specifically exploring AI in electricity networks, how it can be used to accelerate connection queue processes, strengthen network monitoring capabilities, and improve grid operations.

Ofgem consults on battery queue commitment fees

Ofgem is accepting public comment on a proposal to require battery projects to demonstrate a minimum financial commitment of £3,000/MW, up to a maximum of £25,000/MW, to combat oversubscription to the queue. The fee will activate once the queue exceeds its target by more than 50 percent and will deactivate once oversubscription is back under 25 percent. NESO data indicates that there is currently 90 GW of battery storage capacity in the connection queue, but they only project a need of 29 GW by 2035. While the fee imposes an additional cost on battery energy storage system (BESS) projects, it should also weed out more speculative projects in favour of those with real financial resources and a credible path toward construction.

Closing by 2 October

16 to 31 October

16 October · Belgium 🇧🇪
Belgium reviews black-start procurement oversight

22 October · Denmark 🇩🇰
Denmark consults on renewable acceleration areas

27 October · United Kingdom 🇬🇧
UK proposes capacity-market delivery and derating changes

27 October · Ireland 🇮🇪 / United Kingdom 🇬🇧
All-island system-services procurement moves towards market rules

29 October · France 🇫🇷
France opens a call for greener data-centre equipment

30 October · Italy 🇮🇹
Italy consults on aggregated balancing resources

31 October · Switzerland 🇨🇭
Switzerland consults on wind siting plans

November to January

3 November · European Union 🇪🇺
Commission reviews the EU ETS and Market Stability Reserve

6 November · United Kingdom 🇬🇧
UK seeks evidence on AI in clean energy

13 November · European Union 🇪🇺
EU priority infrastructure: electricity applications

30 November · Denmark 🇩🇰
Denmark adds DKK65 million to business energy grants

4 December · European Union 🇪🇺
EU opens applications for priority infrastructure status

8 December · Ireland 🇮🇪
Tonn Nua offshore grid plans open for comment

14 December · European Union 🇪🇺
EU consults on data-centre performance standards

31 January 2027 · Norway 🇳🇴
Finnmark wind applications gain three months

Closed since this edition

25 September · Closed · United Kingdom 🇬🇧
NESO consults on its annual financial model

25 September · Closed · Greece 🇬🇷
Greece consults on cross-border capacity rules

25 September · Closed · Sweden 🇸🇪
Sweden surveys grid-connection costs

28 September · Closed · Germany 🇩🇪
Germany consults on electricity planning scenarios

28 September · Closed · Slovakia 🇸🇰
Slovakia reviews trading continuity and production forecasts

Reports and documents worth bookmarking

Germany 🇩🇪:
Interim monitoring of the data center strategy

Ireland 🇮🇪:
Future Markets Industry Workshop

Netherlands 🇳🇱:
National Action Agenda for Battery Systems

Sweden 🇸🇪:
MARI Connection Impact Assessment

United Kingdom 🇬🇧:
Dispatch Down Action Plan