CRM Auction
Bid your Remaining Eligible Volume at a Bid Price of your choice with your prequalified unit(s)
After successfully prequalifying your capacity, you can participate in the CRM Auction(s). During the CRM Auction, Capacity Market Units (CMUs) can offer their Remaining Eligible Volume in the CRM Auction at a chosen Bid Price and a Capacity Contract Duration (multi-year Capacity Contract is assessed and approved by the CREG, for one year Capacity Contract no approval needed). Note that the Auction is subject to a Price Cap and depending on the unit’s status and contract duration, this price cap can vary .
Your Bid needs to be submitted between 15 September and 30 September. The Auction is run on a pay-as-bid basis and the Auction results are validated by the CREG. Elia publishes the Auction results by 31 October at the latest.
Note that prior to the Auction:
- The CRM Candidate can still reduce (partially or entirely) its Remaining Eligible Volume through an Opt-Out (up to September 30 6am at the latest).
- The CRM Candidate can still remove (archive) its Prequalification File and Bids without consequence (Up to gate closure time, September 30 at 17h00).
In summary a valid Bid contains:
- A Bid Price
- A Bid Volume
- A Capacity Contract Duration
More information on the Auction can also be found in the quick reference card below.
One-year contract versus Multi-year contract
One Year Capacity Contract
A one year Capacity Contract lasts for one Delivery Period, from November 1 in year Y to October 31 Y+1. All prequalified CRM Candidates can, by default, submit a Bid in the Auction to obtain a one-year Capacity Contract.
Multi-Year Capacity Contract
Multi-year Capacity Contracts can also be established and have a maximum duration of 3, 8, or 15 Delivery Periods, depending on the size and nature of the investment. To qualify for a multi-year contract, participants must submit an Investment File to the CREG for approval. More information on Investment Files can be found here: Prequalification page
Bid Price caps
There is a procedure for IPC Derogation, which needs to be approved by the CREG if a CRM Candidate is able to demonstrate that it suffers from a higher missing money issue than the level of the IPC.
For more information on the IPC Derogation, please consult the latest version of the Functioning Rules, the website of the CREG and the Royal Decree of 4 June 2021 setting out the investment thresholds, eligibility criteria for investment costs and the classification procedure:
When to submit a Bid?
The bidding period takes place from 15/09 to 30/09, the results of the Auction will be published by 31st October each year, at the latest.
Three Auctions are organized for each Delivery Period, respectively 4 years, 2 years and 1 year ahead. So, for example to participate to the Y-4 auction for the Delivery Period in 2030, you would need to submit your bid between 15/09 and 30/09 in 2026.
How to submit a Bid?
The Bids relate to prequalified CMUs and are entered via the CRM IT Interface by the Prequalified CRM Candidates. Each Bid is considered with its volume in MW, price in €/MW/year and Capacity Contract Duration.
The (Remaining) Eligible Volume of the CMU limits the volume of a Bid and is to be offered entirely (at least once) in the Auction.
It is possible to submit conditional bids, for example:
- Linked Bids: Bids that are selected all together or not.
- Mutual Exclusive Bids: the selection of a Bid implies the exclusion of the other Bids.
To actually submit a Bid, you can use the CRM IT interface.
Auction results
Results will be published by 31st October each year, at the latest.
The link to the webpage for the Auction results can be found here: CRM Auction Results
