First Successful Auction for the New French Capacity Mechanism!
The objective of the Capacity Mechanism is to ensure and organise the availability of all generation and demand response capacities required to maintain security of supply during electricity peak demand periods.
Implemented in France since January 2017, the French Capacity Mechanism has recently undergone a major redesign, notably moving from a decentralised to a centralised organisation. Under the new Capacity Mechanism, capacity procurement is now carried out centrally by RTE.
The auctions of the new French Capacity Mechanism are organised on the PLEDGE platform, developed and operated by EPEX SPOT. Within the PLEDGE platform, Artelys designed and developed the market clearing algorithm used to select the successful capacity offers. In particular, the optimisation algorithm guarantees that the selection process is robust, reproducible, and compliant with all market rules and constraints defined by market participants, including indivisibility constraints.
The first auction of the new Capacity Mechanism, held on Monday, 6 July 2026, enabled RTE to contract 82,446.8 MW of capacity for the delivery period from 1 November 2026 to 31 March 2027. The clearing price of the first auction was €28,183/MW. Selected participants commit to making their capacity available during the Peak Periods (PPs) of the delivery period.
Figure 1. Results of the first auction. Source: RTE Services Portal.
Additional auctions will be organised in the coming months and years to procure capacity for delivery periods from 2027 to 2036.
Artelys is proud to have supported RTE (jointly with EPEX SPOT) in the design and development of the market clearing algorithm that enhances the efficiency and robustness of the French power system and is delighted with the success of the first auction.
Learn more about the new French Capacity Mechanism:
- RTE, Participating in the New Capacity Mechanism – Delivery Periods 2026–2036
- RTE, New Capacity Mechanism: Auction Results (Supply and Demand Curves)
- RTE, New Capacity Mechanism: Auction Results (Certified and Contracted Volumes)
- EPEX SPOT, Press Release of 7 July 2026
Artelys has also been providing the auction algorithm for the Belgian Capacity Remuneration Mechanism (CRM) implemented by Elia since 2021.
If you would like to learn more about our energy market-clearing solutions, please contact us or visit our dedicated webpage.
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