Capacity is then available to all on equal terms. There are no explicit capacity auctions on connections and no single party has sole access to any of the trading capacity.

Trading capacities on all external interconnectors are also subject to implicit auction through the MRC (Multi Regional Coupling).

The transmission system operators (TSOs) determine the trading capacity between bidding areas. Trading capacities for the next day are published at 10:00 CET.

Handling of bottlenecks in day-ahead capacities

In addition to capacities between areas, there are also internal bottlenecks in the system that limit the maximum flows on a set of interconnectors. Nord Pool uses trading capacities for limiting the total flow both on single and sets of interconnectors.

Cut B DK (DK1<->NO2, DK1<->SE3)

Cut B DK in Denmark is an internal bottleneck in the north of Jutland. Cut B reflects the sum of net export/import capacity available for the day-ahead market north of Cut B towards areas NO2 and SE3. 

The sum of import/export to/from DK1 equals physical flow on the interconnectors DK1<->NO2 and DK1<->SE3. Import cannot be higher than the Cut B limitation. Hence the flow out of/into Denmark on each of the interconnectors can be restricted by the Cut B limit even though there is available capacity on each single interconnector.

Limits per interconnector (DK1<->NO2/SE3) restrict the flow only when the sum maximum capacity is exceeded.  

NO1<->NO2, NO1<->NO5

Net sum of import/export to and from NO1 equals the physical flows on the interconnectors NO1<->NO2 and NO1<->NO5. This makes it possible to restrict flow from/to NO1 towards/from NO2 and NO5.

For more information, read our Explanation on Line Sets NO2A, NO1A, DK1A and SE3 to (NO1+DK1).