The RSE initiative launched by the SSE Department ‘APE – Appunti di Energia’ (energy notes) continues in this new year and is now available both in the Italian and English version. In this second issue, Federica Davò, a researcher from the Energy Market Regulation Group, describes the functioning and main aspects of the Day-Ahead Market.

The Day-Ahead Market is the main electricity market, the first stage of the spot market, which hosts most of the wholesale energy buying and selling transactions. It is an hourly and zonal auction market, which must take into account transit limits between different market areas. Bids are accepted on the basis of economic merit.

The peculiarity of Italy’s Day-Ahead Market is the presence of two different prices: the area price, to which sale bids are subject, and the PUN – Prezzo Unico Nazionale (Italian National Single Price), to which purchase bids are subject (with the exception of pump hydro plants, bids from foreign areas and some storage systems).

In this month’s APE you’ll find all the details and features shown in the photos.