Switzerland electricity and balancing markets

Switzerland. Status: operational; Swissgrid's 2025-04-01 factsheet reports TERRE participation and no Swiss connection to MARI or PICASSO on that date.

Wholesale design: Competitive wholesale trading through bilateral and exchange markets, explicit cross-border capacity allocation on most borders, and Swissgrid market-based tenders for balancing capacity and energy.

Market type
National market
Operators
Swissgrid · EPEX SPOT
Dispatch model
Market schedules and balance groups, followed by Swissgrid balancing and congestion-management actions.
Pricing granularity
Swiss bidding zone and product-specific balancing tenders
Settlement interval
15 minutes
Nominal frequency
50 Hz
Where energy trades

Where does energy trade in Switzerland electricity and balancing markets?

Energy in Switzerland electricity and balancing markets trades in 6 layers: forward, day-ahead, intraday, balancing capacity, balancing energy and cross-border capacity.

What a battery can sell

What ancillary services can a battery sell in Switzerland electricity and balancing markets?

Switzerland electricity and balancing markets has 6 ancillary-service products, across 6 families — frequency containment, automatic frequency restoration, manual frequency restoration, reactive power & voltage, black start & restoration and other services: Energy for compensation of active-power losses, Secondary control / automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve, Black-start and island-operation capability, Primary control / Frequency Containment Reserve, Tertiary control / manual Frequency Restoration Reserve, Voltage support. 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 →

6 ancillary-service products in Switzerland electricity and balancing markets, grouped into 6 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
Primary control / Frequency Containment Reserve PCP / FCR symmetric operational and market-procured Response type automatic local-frequency-proportional response Trigger continuous frequency response; the official overview illustrates ±200 mHz around 50 Hz Full activation 30 s Reported, not a current requirement — approximate 70 MW (official 2020 overview) illustrative Swiss requirement adjusted annually; not asserted as the 2025 awarded volume Bought transparent market-based tender; frequency depends on product schedule Pricing design published Swissgrid tender results
Full record for Primary control / Frequency Containment Reserve — a topic in the document is named, but not a page or table
What it is for

Stabilize Continental Europe frequency immediately after a disturbance before Swiss secondary control replaces it.

Published checkpoints

Full activation: 30 s

Checkpoint recap

Full activation 30 s

What the source does not state

The source states the full-activation requirement and a procurement volume. It does not state how long delivery has to be sustained.

Sources
Automatic frequency restoration
Secondary control / automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve SCP / aFRR upward and downward operational; Swiss capacity and energy markets remain nationally procured Response type automatic central signal from Swissgrid load-frequency control Trigger control-area imbalance and frequency-restoration need rather than a single threshold Full activation 5 min As stated varies by tender period Bought balancing-capacity tenders plus balancing-energy bids Pricing design published tender results and activated-energy settlement
Full record for Secondary control / automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve — a topic in the document is named, but not a page or table
What it is for

Automatically restore Swiss control-area balance and scheduled exchanges and replace primary control.

Published checkpoints

Current full availability: 5 min

Checkpoint recap

Full activation 5 min

What the source does not state

The source states the full-activation requirement and a procurement volume in its own words. It does not state how long delivery has to be sustained.

Sources
Manual frequency restoration
Tertiary control / manual Frequency Restoration Reserve TCP / mFRR upward and downward operational domestically; Swissgrid's 2025-04-01 factsheet reports that Switzerland was not connected to MARI on that date Response type manual activation by Swissgrid dispatcher Trigger persistent control-area imbalance or reserve replacement need Full activation 750 s As stated varies by tender period Bought balancing-capacity tenders plus quarter-hourly balancing-energy bids Pricing design published tender and activated-energy results
Full record for Tertiary control / manual Frequency Restoration Reserve — page or table locator recorded
What it is for

Address larger or longer-lasting Swiss imbalances and release secondary control.

Bought in blocks of

15 min

Published checkpoints

Swissgrid product activation lead time: 750 s

Checkpoint recap

Full activation 750 s

What the source does not state

The source states the full-activation requirement and a procurement volume in its own words. It does not state how long delivery has to be sustained.

Sources
Reactive power & voltage
Voltage support reactive injection and absorption operational; mandatory or contractually remunerated depending on provider category Response type automatic equipment control and Swissgrid reference-voltage instruction Trigger deviation from Swissgrid reference voltage Stated response equipment and contract specific As stated network need Bought mandatory participation or prequalified supra-mandatory service Pricing design fixed tariff and specified remuneration; not a uniform reserve auction
Full record for Voltage support — a topic in the document is named, but not a page or table
What it is for

Maintain reference voltages at transmission-grid feed-in and withdrawal points through controlled reactive-power exchange.

What the source does not state

The source states a response time in its own words and a procurement volume in its own words. It does not state how long delivery has to be sustained.

Sources
Black start & restoration
Black-start and island-operation capability operational; the 2020 Swissgrid overview described four build-up cells Response type Swissgrid restoration instruction and site-specific sequence Trigger major outage and restoration condition Stated response restoration-concept and plant specific Reported, not a current requirement 4 build-up cells (2020 official overview) historical system-restoration concept, not a current MW procurement observation Bought invitation to tender / restoration concept Pricing design contract terms
Full record for Black-start and island-operation capability — a topic in the document is named, but not a page or table
What it is for

Initiate independent grid restoration and maintain island operation after a major outage.

What the source does not state

The source states a response time in its own words and a procurement volume. It does not state how long delivery has to be sustained.

Sources
Other services
Energy for compensation of active-power losses energy purchase operational and market-procured Response type scheduled energy procurement rather than reserve activation Trigger forecast transmission losses Not applicable not applicable as an activated reserve Reported, not a current requirement 60–200 MW (2020 official overview) historical illustrative physical-loss range; average approximately 110 MW, not a current ancillary-reserve award Bought published energy tenders Pricing design market tender
Full record for Energy for compensation of active-power losses — a topic in the document is named, but not a page or table
What it is for

Procure energy needed to replace physical losses on the Swiss extra-high-voltage transmission grid.

What the source does not state

The source states that a response time does not apply to it and a procurement volume. It does not state how long delivery has to be sustained.

Sources
Getting paid to exist

Does Switzerland electricity and balancing markets have a capacity mechanism?

No central capacity market. Switzerland electricity and balancing markets has 1 capacity/adequacy arrangement — Swiss hydropower winter reserve — and it works differently. Responsibility sits with Swissgrid and ElCom.

Swiss hydropower winter reserve

established annually under the Winter Reserve Ordinance

Swissgrid tenders storage-hydropower energy to be withheld for a defined winter period and released only when the market can no longer meet demand.

staggered competitive energy-reserve tenders approved by ElCom

Responsibility
Swissgrid and ElCom
Unit of obligation
GWh of stored energy
Auction held in 2025
No () — The tender closed in 2024 for delivery in 2025; delivery year alone does not make it a 2025 capacity auction.
Revenue routes

Merchant revenue routes

  • bilateral energy
  • exchange energy
  • balancing capacity
  • balancing energy
  • hydropower reserve
Where this comes from

Official sources

Rules

Service specification

Market explainer

Capacity-mechanism explainer

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 Switzerland electricity and balancing markets

Who operates Switzerland electricity and balancing markets?
Switzerland electricity and balancing markets covers Switzerland and is operated by Swissgrid and EPEX SPOT.
Was a qualifying capacity event held in Switzerland electricity and balancing markets in 2025?
No. Swiss hydropower winter reserve: no qualifying 2025 event is recorded. The tender closed in 2024 for delivery in 2025; delivery year alone does not make it a 2025 capacity auction.
How is energy traded, priced and settled in Switzerland electricity and balancing markets?
Switzerland electricity and balancing markets: Competitive wholesale trading through bilateral and exchange markets, explicit cross-border capacity allocation on most borders, and Swissgrid market-based tenders for balancing capacity and energy. Dispatch — Market schedules and balance groups, followed by Swissgrid balancing and congestion-management actions; pricing granularity — Swiss bidding zone and product-specific balancing tenders; settlement interval — 15 minutes.
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The markets index holds the full set. For what the grid demands of a battery here, see the grid-code ride-through atlas.

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