April 2025 Market Update: Frequency Control Reserve (FCR) Prices in Sweden

Every month, Svenska kraftnät - the Swedish national grid operator - publishes updates on balancing services like FCR. These services help keep the electricity grid stable, especially when supply and demand don’t match. Here's a quick overview of what happened in April 2025 on the FCR markets.

What is FCR?

FCR stands for Frequency Containment Reserve. It's used to quickly correct any imbalances in the power system. There are three types:

• FCR-N (Normal): Keeps the frequency stable during normal operations.

• FCR-D up: Adds electricity to the grid when frequency drops.

• FCR-D down: Removes electricity when frequency is too high.

Key Highlights for April

• Prices increased for all three FCR services compared to earlier this year.

• However, prices are still lower than April 2024, especially for FCR-D products.

• FCR-N averaged 37.4 EUR/MW — the highest monthly average in 2025 so far.

• FCR-D up averaged 8.91 EUR/MW, and FCR-D down averaged 11.38 EUR/MW.

• FCR-D down had very large price swings, from as low as 1.38 EUR/MW up to 773.71 EUR/MW during one peak on April 27.

Why are prices changing?

• A higher demand for reserve power was introduced starting January 2025 — especially for FCR-D down. This added more volume to the market.

• More battery storage systems have joined the market, increasing competition.

• Water flow from melting snow (spring flood) affects hydropower, which also impacts FCR prices.

• The new pay-as-cleared pricing model (used since February 2024) may lead to higher or more volatile prices compared to the older pay-as-bid system.

Regional Trends

• Southern Sweden (SE3 and SE4) is now more active in the FCR markets, compared to the north (SE1 and SE2), which used to dominate.

• The shift is driven by new participants — particularly battery systems — entering the market in the south.

Supply Update

As of April 1, 2025:

• Battery capacity qualified for FCR-N increased by 30% since January.

• Battery capacity for FCR-D up rose from 610 MW to 670 MW.

• Flexible consumption is growing slowly, but still plays a small role in the market.