The spread is the price difference between a buy order and a sell order used in redispatch to resolve congestion. This difference arises because market parties set their own bid prices.
When grid operators expect congestion, they send a market message via GOPACS. Market parties then place buy and sell orders on connected trading platforms.
The buyer aims to purchase at the lowest price. The seller aims to sell at the highest price. The difference between these prices is the spread.
On regular energy markets, buyers and sellers typically meet naturally as bid and ask prices converge. In congestion management, this works differently.
Bids are location-specific and time-critical. Price differences are often larger, meaning no match would occur without compensation.
That is why grid operators compensate the spread when a matched buy and sell order effectively contributes to resolving congestion. This creates a targeted financial incentive to deploy flexible capacity.
The cost of compensating the spread is lower than alternatives such as curtailment or damage caused by grid overload.
With redispatch and spread compensation:
The spread enables effective cooperation between grid operators and the market—keeping the grid stable and future-proof.
