Energy Club to discuss the imbalance pricing mechanism and the proposal for a temporary 80/120% corridor

04.09.2026

Energy Club plans to hold a professional online meeting soon, dedicated to the mechanism for forming imbalance prices in the electricity market and possible temporary safeguards to reduce disproportionate financial risks for market participants under martial law.

The initiative to hold the discussion came from Energy Club member company, LLC «ENERGY 365.» The company drew attention to the need for continued professional discussion after receiving the NEURC’s response to the previous appeal from the Energy Club regarding the introduction of temporary safeguards in the pricing mechanism on the balancing market and during the settlement of electricity imbalances.

One of the key issues for discussion will be the proposed temporary corridor of 80/120% relative to the day-ahead market price. This is not about setting a fixed imbalance price, but about limiting the extreme values: the current formula continues to operate within the corridor, and adjustment is applied only when the price of a positive imbalance falls below 80% of the DAM price or the price of a negative imbalance exceeds 120%.

The appeal from «ENERGY 365» also provides a simulation of the financial impact of the current mechanism for a hypothetical monthly supplier portfolio of 10,000 MWh. According to the company’s calculations, with a portfolio error of 5%, the average modeled loss in 2026 under the current scheme is about UAH 1.582 million per month, while in the model using the 80/120% corridor, it would decrease to approximately UAH 381 thousand. In the scenario of a 10% error, the corresponding figures are about UAH 3.164 million and UAH 763 thousand.

Separately, a compromise approach is proposed for discussion, under which the 80/120% corridor may apply to the first 5% of the absolute imbalance, while the current formula will continue to apply to larger deviations. For documented military, emergency, or forced events, it is proposed to consider the possibility of extending such protection up to 10% of the planned volume.

During the meeting, the Energy Club also proposes to discuss:

• whether the current imbalance pricing mechanism needs additional temporary safeguards under martial law;
• what the balance should be between the financial responsibility of the parties responsible for balance and the limitation of extreme price risks;
• the possibility of applying similar safeguards to price bids for balancing electricity;
• the promptness of publishing information on systemic balance, balancing activations, and imbalance prices;
• possible options for refining the proposal, taking into account the NEURC’s position;
• the preparation of a consolidated position of market participants and, based on the results of the discussion, a repeated appeal by the Energy Club to the Regulator.

Electricity suppliers, traders, parties responsible for balance, producers, aggregators, as well as representatives of the NEURC, NEC «Ukrenergo,» and JSC «Market Operator» are planned to be invited to participate in the discussion.

The Energy Club invites market participants to join in forming a practical position on how, amidst wartime uncertainty, to maintain incentives for quality balancing while minimizing disproportionate financial consequences that participants do not always have the opportunity to timely predict or adjust.