OMIE launches 96-round quarter-hourly continuous intraday market in MIBEL

OMIE has put into operation a new trading scheme for the continuous intraday market, moving from 24 hourly gate closures to 96 quarter-hourly gate closures per day, effective from 00:00 on 23 September 2026. Each 15-minute contract now has its own cross-border gate closure, with trading possible up to 60 minutes before delivery.

This is a structural redesign of the Iberian continuous intraday market that aligns product granularity with the 15-minute settlement period, enabling market participants to adjust positions much closer to real time. It supports integration of higher renewable generation shares and flexibility resources such as storage, and represents a concrete step in the broader European trend toward closer-to-real-time electricity trading.

The shift from hourly to quarter-hourly gate closures fundamentally changes the microstructure of the MIBEL continuous intraday market. By giving each 15-minute product its own dedicated cross-border closure, OMIE increases the number of discrete trading opportunities four-fold, which should improve price granularity and allow more precise imbalance management by generators, retailers and flexibility providers. However, this also risks fragmenting liquidity across a much larger number of quarter-hourly order books, at least in early operation, potentially widening bid-ask spreads for less liquid periods until market-maker and algorithmic trading activity adapts. The coordination with REE and REN and the extensive agent preparation process (seminars, market rule change proposals, test scenarios) suggests a carefully sequenced technical implementation, reducing operational risk at go-live. Because the change was implemented via evolution of existing market rules rather than a wholesale new market, the legal/regulatory pathway appears to have been a rules amendment process rather than a full regulatory authorization event, though the source does not detail the formal decision that authorized this change.

MIBEL market rules (reglas del mercado) as administered by OMIE, coordinated with REE and REN

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Primary sources