Intraday market
The intraday market is the continuous order book that opens after day-ahead gate closure and runs until close to physical delivery — typically 30–60 minutes pre-delivery in Estonia. Where day-ahead clears once at noon, intraday trades constantly to clean up forecast errors before imbalance prices apply.
The intraday market is the continuous order book that opens after day-ahead gate closure and runs until close to physical delivery. Where day-ahead clears once at noon for every hour of the next day, intraday trades minute-by-minute to clean up the gap between forecasts and reality before imbalance prices apply.
Estonia's gate closures
In Estonia, intraday trading on cross-border products closes 30–60 minutes before delivery; intra-zone trading runs even later. The reference platform across the Nordics, Baltics and most of Continental Europe is Single Intraday Coupling (SIDC) — Nord Pool's Elbas terminal connects directly into it. SIDC began as the EU-wide cross-border intraday coupling (XBID) in 2018; Estonia's Elbas dates back to the original NP Estonia bidding-zone launch in 2010. Bids are price–quantity and matched continuously: first acceptable counterparty wins.
Why it exists
Day-ahead is a forecast committed twelve hours before delivery. Wind shifts, loads surprise, generators trip. The BRP that did not buy enough yesterday will close the gap intraday rather than face the imbalance price afterwards. Closing a known shortfall before delivery is almost always cheaper than paying the TSO to fix it after the fact.
Volume profile
Intraday volumes have grown sharply across Europe since 2022 as wind and solar penetration increased. In Estonia, intraday clears roughly 5–10% of total day-ahead volume on a normal day, more on volatile weather days. For batteries and demand response, intraday is the second-largest revenue stream after balancing reserves: the asset with the fastest dispatch wins the trade.