Belpex and trilateral market coupling

This document describes the operation of Belpex, the Belgian power transmission spot market, and its linking with the French (Powernext) and Dutch (APX) auction-style day-ahead spot markets. A last part deals with the extension of this trilateral market to other European countries. Content: Belpex day-ahead market (DAM) (Goals of the DAM: Provide consumers with a wider choice of electrical energy sources, Enable the ARP's to optimize their portfolio in terms of imbalance costs, Reduce trade and credit risks for market players compared with the risks involved in concluding bilateral contracts, Provide economic players with a transparent price benchmark, Stimulate the opening of the electricity market); Market model Product (description, Contracts, Collateral calculation, From 12 January to launch date Corporate and Legal Aspects, Next developments); Trilateral Market Coupling (What is market coupling and what are the benefits?, Implementation of trilateral market coupling ('TLC') in France/Belgium/Netherlands, From Trilateral to Multilateral, Implementation of Trilateral Market Coupling (TLC) in France/Belgium/Netherlands, Decentralized market coupling mechanism, influence of import and export on area prices); Decentralized market coupling (2 countries Situations: unconstrained/constrained, Decentralized market coupling: 3 countries, High Level Properties of Market Coupling, Maximize flow until prices across link converge (or ATC limit reached), Power flows from low price area to high price area, Implementing a decentralized technical approach, Market Coupling Daily Process, Impact on Existing Exchange Arrangements, Implementing a decentralized contractual approach, TLC Project Process); From Trilateral to Multilateral (Geographic extensions, Towards an Open and Multilateral Market Coupling, Management of Interconnection Capacities, Interconnection Capacities: current situation, TSO Roles and Responsibilities in the TLC, Other Import/Export products on the interconnections, Aspects of current explicit day-ahead allocation, Daily Market Process, Road-map by Regulators, CRE-CREG-DTE Road-map: Extension to NorNed and other areas, Further steps, Transmission Rights, Flow-based transmission model, Towards an Open and Multilateral Market Coupling). (J.S.)