France electricity market

France. Status: operational; PICASSO joined 2 April 2025; transition to centralized capacity mechanism scheduled from winter 2026/27.

Wholesale design: EU-coupled zonal market; RTE procures and activates reserves; the 2025 capacity mechanism was a decentralized obligation backed by tradable guarantees.

Market type
Jurisdictional market
Operators
RTE · EPEX SPOT · EEX
Dispatch model
self-dispatch with RTE balancing activations
Where energy trades

Where does energy trade in France electricity market?

Energy in France electricity market trades in 4 layers: day-ahead, intraday, balancing and capacity-guarantee exchange.

What a battery can sell

What ancillary services can a battery sell in France electricity market?

France electricity market has 4 ancillary-service products, across 4 families — frequency containment, automatic frequency restoration, manual frequency restoration and replacement reserve: automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve, Frequency Containment Reserve, manual Frequency Restoration Reserve, Replacement Reserve. Response timing, direction and eligibility for each are in the table below; a product's full record lists the official sources behind it.

Every value below comes from the official sources listed in that product's full record. Most products cite more than one, and the published sources do not say which of them states each individual value, so the binding is to the product's record rather than to a single document. A missing line means the source does not state that value — never that the value is zero.

Scroll the table sideways for the rest of the columns →

4 ancillary-service products in France electricity market, grouped into 4 families. Each row runs left to right through one product's life: how it activates, how quickly it has to respond, how long it has to keep delivering, and how it is bought.
Service How it activates Response Sustained delivery Procurement
Frequency containment
Frequency Containment Reserve FCRprimary frequency controlprimary reserve symmetric or separate upward/downward according to synchronous area and national procurement operational Response type automatic, local-frequency-proportional, pre-fault and post-fault containment Trigger continuous response to local frequency deviation; exact deadband and droop are national/synchronous-area technical parameters Full activation 30 s Bought national or regional capacity procurement, commonly day-ahead How it settles capacity remuneration or mandatory provision depending on national implementation; energy/imbalance treatment is national Pricing design national/regional rules Counted as national or regional procurement, which the operator does not publish as a figure
Full record for Frequency Containment Reserve — page or table locator recorded
What it is for

Contain frequency deviations before frequency-restoration processes take over.

Where it sits

national FCR implementation

Where it applies

Bidding zone: FR

Published checkpoints

Full activation requirement: 30 s · Response checkpoint: 15 s (50% of response) · Response checkpoint: 30 s (100% of response)

Who can provide it

prequalified generation, storage or demand resources meeting synchronous-area and national TSO requirements

Notes from the source

Thirty seconds is the Continental Europe full-activation time, not a universal Europe-wide value.

Continental Europe requirement for a frequency deviation of at least 200 mHz; do not apply to Nordic FCR products

Status of this product

Operational in 2025

Checkpoint recap

Full activation 30 s

What the source does not state

The source states the full-activation requirement. It does not state how long delivery has to be sustained, and the volume is either set per auction or not published as a standing figure — the source does not say which.

Sources
Automatic frequency restoration
automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve aFRRsecondary controlsecondary reserve separate upward and downward operational in participating markets; rollout continued Response type automatic central activation, normally via AGC/set-point signal; continuously activatable standard product Trigger activated from TSO control-area needs rather than a single public frequency threshold Full activation 5 min Bought balancing capacity remains nationally procured; balancing energy is activated through national systems and PICASSO where connected How it settles separate capacity and activated-energy settlement where capacity is procured; imbalance effects remain under national terms Smallest bid 1 MW Pricing design capacity pricing is national; common merit-order activation and marginal pricing apply through PICASSO subject to implementation rules Counted as national capacity procurement
Full record for automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve — page or table locator recorded
What it is for

Restore frequency and area-control error and release FCR after an imbalance.

Where it sits

national aFRR plus PICASSO balancing energy

Where it applies

Bidding zone: FR

Bought in blocks of

15 min

Published checkpoints

Standard product, full activation: 5 min

How this market implements it

France connected to PICASSO on 2 April 2025.

Who can provide it

prequalified balancing service providers; aggregation rules are national

Notes from the source

A common balancing-energy product does not imply common national capacity procurement, qualification or settlement.

EU standard-product full activation time; before 18 December 2025 national products and transition rules still apply and have to be checked market by market

Status of this product

Operational in 2025

Checkpoint recap

Full activation 5 min

What the source does not state

The source states the full-activation requirement. It does not state how long delivery has to be sustained, and the volume is either set per auction or not published as a standing figure — the source does not say which.

Sources
Manual frequency restoration
manual Frequency Restoration Reserve mFRRtertiary reservemanual restoration reserve separate upward and downward operational in national markets; MARI integration continued Response type scheduled or direct manual/automated-dispatch activation of a balancing-energy bid Trigger TSO activation based on imbalance, reserve need and common merit order; not a single frequency threshold Full activation 750 s maximum full activation time for the EU standard product; legacy national products may differ Minimum obligation at least 5 min Bought national balancing-capacity procurement; balancing-energy activation through national arrangements and MARI where connected How it settles capacity plus activated energy where capacity is procured; energy-only bids may also participate under national terms Smallest bid 1 MW Pricing design national capacity rules and common-platform energy pricing under the implementation framework Counted as national capacity procurement
Full record for manual Frequency Restoration Reserve — page or table locator recorded
What it is for

Restore system balance manually or by automated dispatch after faster reserves and release aFRR/FCR.

Where it sits

national mFRR in 2025; MARI connection planned after reporting period

Where it applies

Bidding zone: FR

Bought in blocks of

15 min

Published checkpoints

Standard product, maximum full activation: 750 s

How this market implements it

French MARI connection was planned for January 2026, so 2025 mFRR activation remained under national arrangements.

Who can provide it

prequalified balancing service providers; aggregation and telemetry requirements are national

Notes from the source

The 12.5-minute value is a standard-product maximum full-activation time; legacy national tertiary products may use different labels or timings.

Status of this product

A national product, operational in 2025 but not as the MARI product

Checkpoint recap

Full activation 750 s · Minimum sustained 5 min

What the source does not state

The source states the full-activation requirement and a minimum delivery period. It does not state a maximum duration, and the volume is either set per auction or not published as a standing figure — the source does not say which.

Sources
Replacement reserve
Replacement Reserve RR separate upward and downward operational in participating national implementations; TERRE operations ended 30 December 2025 ahead of decommissioning Response type manual scheduled block activation Trigger TSO activation from replacement-reserve need through national arrangements or TERRE Full activation 30 min maximum full activation time for the European RR standard product Minimum obligation at least 15 min Bought mostly balancing energy; national capacity arrangements may differ How it settles activated energy and national imbalance settlement Pricing design common merit-order activation through TERRE where connected Counted as national energy bids, which the operator does not publish as a figure
Full record for Replacement Reserve — page or table locator recorded
What it is for

Replace restoration reserves and cover longer-lasting imbalances with slower resources.

Where it sits

national/European RR implementation

Where it applies

Bidding zone: FR

Published checkpoints

Standard product, maximum full activation: 30 min

Who can provide it

prequalified balancing service providers capable of the scheduled block product

Notes from the source

TERRE platform status changed at year-end 2025; the product should not be presented as a still-growing platform after that date.

Status of this product

Operational during 2025

Checkpoint recap

Full activation 30 min · Minimum sustained 15 min

What the source does not state

The source states the full-activation requirement and a minimum delivery period. It does not state a maximum duration, and the volume is either set per auction or not published as a standing figure — the source does not say which.

Sources
Getting paid to exist

Does France electricity market have a capacity mechanism?

France electricity market has 2 capacity/adequacy arrangements: New French centralized capacity mechanism and French decentralized capacity-obligation mechanism. The official sources do not say whether each is a central capacity market.

New French centralized capacity mechanism

legislation/design preparation; first delivery winter 2026/27, not the operational 2025 mechanism

RTE centrally procures capacity for peak periods under the new framework; CRE advises on parameters and sizing.

central auctions under forthcoming rules

Unit of obligation
capacity availability in defined peak periods
Auction held in 2025
No — No capacity auction for this market was found to have been held during 2025 in the sources reviewed.

The 2025 EPEX certificate auctions belong to the outgoing decentralized mechanism.

auction-derived capacity remuneration

French decentralized capacity-obligation mechanism

operational for 2025/2026 obligation years; being replaced from winter 2026/27

Suppliers and large consumers carry peak-demand capacity obligations and acquire certified capacity guarantees from capacity holders.

Bilateral trades and EPEX SPOT capacity-guarantee auctions; exchange auctions trade certificates rather than central procurement of a target MW volume.

Unit of obligation
capacity holders must be available in designated peak periods; obligated parties surrender guarantees against their obligation
Auction held in 2025
No — No capacity auction for this market was found to have been held during 2025 in the sources reviewed.

EPEX auction volume is exchange-traded certificate volume, not France's total secured capacity requirement.

market price per capacity guarantee; one guarantee represents 0.1 MW

Revenue routes

Merchant revenue routes

  • energy
  • FCR/aFRR/mFRR/RR
  • imbalance
  • capacity-guarantee sales
Where this comes from

Official sources

Rules

Service specification

Market explainer

Capacity-mechanism explainer

Methodology

Current as of · from the Global Electricity Market Catalogue v1.2.0 (compiled to , CC BY 4.0, rendered here with wording edited for readability). Facts belong to the linked official authorities; verify the current rules before design or bidding decisions.

Questions

Common questions about France electricity market

Who operates France electricity market?
France electricity market covers France and is operated by RTE, EPEX SPOT and EEX.
Was a qualifying capacity event held in France electricity market in 2025?
No. New French centralized capacity mechanism: no qualifying 2025 event is recorded. No capacity auction for this market was found to have been held during 2025 in the sources reviewed. French decentralized capacity-obligation mechanism: no qualifying 2025 event is recorded. No capacity auction for this market was found to have been held during 2025 in the sources reviewed.
How is energy traded, priced and settled in France electricity market?
France electricity market: EU-coupled zonal market; RTE procures and activates reserves; the 2025 capacity mechanism was a decentralized obligation backed by tradable guarantees. Dispatch — self-dispatch with RTE balancing activations.
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