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Built 2026-10-28 (28 October 2026)

Price Gaps Between Neighbouring Electricity Zones, to 2026-10-29 (29 October 2026)

Across 78 pairs of neighbouring European bidding zones, the widest average day-ahead price gap was EUR 120.83/MWh between France and Italy North, and prices were identical in 11% of all compared hours, over 21 to 29 October 2026.

Day-ahead wholesale prices from ENTSO-E in EUR/MWh, compared hour by hour for 78 pairs of zones that share a border. The window is short, 21 to 29 October 2026, and a gap here is an indicator of a constrained interconnector, not proof of congestion.

Key Facts

  • Across 78 pairs of neighbouring European bidding zones, the widest average day-ahead price gap was EUR 120.83/MWh between France and Italy North, and prices were identical in 11% of all compared hours, over 21 to 29 October 2026.
  • France and Italy North had the widest average gap, EUR 120.83/MWh over 176 compared hours, with France cheaper in 99% of hours.
  • Italy Calabria and Italy Sicily had the narrowest average gap, EUR 0.00/MWh, with identical prices in 100% of 176 compared hours.
  • Norway Central (NO3) and Sweden North-Central (SE2) had the most hours more than EUR 20.00/MWh apart, 97% of 200 compared hours. This is an indicator of constrained interconnectors, not proof of congestion.
  • 4 of 78 pairs had the same price in at least 99.5% of hours.

The 10 Widest Gaps

Mean absolute hourly gap, EUR/MWh
The 10 neighbouring zone pairs with the widest average absolute hourly day-ahead price gap, in EUR/MWh
France and Italy North120.83
Austria and Germany and Luxembourg113.30
Switzerland and Germany and Luxembourg113.28
Switzerland and France102.91
Lithuania and Poland101.29
Denmark West (DK1) and Sweden South-Central (SE3)77.51
Poland and Sweden South (SE4)76.41
Germany and Luxembourg and Poland71.51
Sweden South-Central (SE3) and Sweden South (SE4)71.18
Spain and France68.64

The widest gap was France and Italy North, EUR 120.83/MWh on average over 176 compared hours. Bars show the average of the absolute difference between the two zones' hourly prices, so a pair that swaps which side is dearer still registers its full gap.

All 78 Neighbouring Pairs

Widest average gap first, hourly prices to 2026-10-29
For each pair of neighbouring bidding zones: mean absolute hourly day-ahead price gap in EUR/MWh, share of hours with identical prices, share of hours more than 20 EUR/MWh apart, the side that was cheaper in more hours, and the hours compared
#Zone pairAverage gap (EUR/MWh)Identical hoursHours more than 20 EUR/MWh apartUsually cheaperHours compared
1 France and Italy North 120.83 1% 89% France, 99% of hours 176
2 Austria and Germany and Luxembourg 113.30 0% 81% Germany and Luxembourg, 100% of hours 176
3 Switzerland and Germany and Luxembourg 113.28 0% 85% Germany and Luxembourg, 96% of hours 176
4 Switzerland and France 102.91 1% 78% France, 93% of hours 200
5 Lithuania and Poland 101.29 0% 82% Lithuania, 81% of hours 200
6 Denmark West (DK1) and Sweden South-Central (SE3) 77.51 0% 76% Sweden South-Central (SE3), 96% of hours 200
7 Poland and Sweden South (SE4) 76.41 0% 74% Sweden South (SE4), 86% of hours 200
8 Germany and Luxembourg and Poland 71.51 0% 76% Germany and Luxembourg, 73% of hours 176
9 Sweden South-Central (SE3) and Sweden South (SE4) 71.18 0% 73% Sweden South-Central (SE3), 100% of hours 200
10 Spain and France 68.64 17% 69% France, 49% of hours 200
11 Norway Central (NO3) and Sweden North-Central (SE2) 66.79 0% 97% Sweden North-Central (SE2), 100% of hours 200
12 Italy Centre-South and Italy Sardinia 66.37 38% 44% Italy Sardinia, 61% of hours 176
13 Norway Central (NO3) and Norway North (NO4) 60.76 0% 90% Norway North (NO4), 100% of hours 200
14 Albania and Greece 59.63 0% 78% Greece, 70% of hours 176
15 Norway South-East (NO1) and Sweden South-Central (SE3) 58.60 0% 86% Sweden South-Central (SE3), 97% of hours 200
16 Czechia and Germany and Luxembourg 58.44 0% 73% Germany and Luxembourg, 87% of hours 176
17 Hungary and Slovakia 57.54 2% 67% Slovakia, 74% of hours 176
18 Albania and Montenegro 53.30 0% 75% Montenegro, 70% of hours 200
19 Austria and Czechia 52.33 0% 64% Czechia, 88% of hours 200
20 Poland and Slovakia 51.03 0% 66% Poland, 76% of hours 176
21 Netherlands and Norway South-West (NO2) 41.67 1% 59% Norway South-West (NO2), 59% of hours 176
22 Estonia and Finland 40.31 8% 38% Finland, 75% of hours 176
23 Germany and Luxembourg and Norway South-West (NO2) 39.87 0% 57% Norway South-West (NO2), 56% of hours 176
24 Czechia and Poland 39.80 0% 52% Poland, 63% of hours 200
25 Austria and Hungary 39.46 0% 72% Austria, 70% of hours 176
26 Sweden North-Central (SE2) and Sweden South-Central (SE3) 39.23 0% 47% Sweden North-Central (SE2), 85% of hours 200
27 Finland and Sweden South-Central (SE3) 39.21 1% 47% Finland, 75% of hours 200
28 Greece and North Macedonia 38.85 0% 59% Greece, 82% of hours 176
29 Hungary and Slovenia 38.31 0% 68% Slovenia, 77% of hours 176
30 Denmark West (DK1) and Norway South-West (NO2) 36.49 0% 47% Denmark West (DK1), 53% of hours 200
31 Lithuania and Sweden South (SE4) 36.32 0% 54% Lithuania, 61% of hours 200
32 Norway South-East (NO1) and Norway Central (NO3) 34.73 0% 74% Norway Central (NO3), 79% of hours 200
33 Croatia and Hungary 33.29 1% 62% Croatia, 77% of hours 176
34 Bulgaria and North Macedonia 31.76 0% 56% Bulgaria, 62% of hours 176
35 Norway Central (NO3) and Norway West (NO5) 31.76 0% 74% Norway Central (NO3), 81% of hours 200
36 Czechia and Slovakia 31.67 0% 36% Czechia, 80% of hours 176
37 Hungary and Serbia 31.55 0% 63% Serbia, 51% of hours 176
38 Italy Centre-South and Italy South 31.24 72% 23% Italy South, 28% of hours 176
39 Croatia and Serbia 30.84 0% 63% Croatia, 82% of hours 176
40 Germany and Luxembourg and Sweden South (SE4) 30.19 0% 47% Sweden South (SE4), 72% of hours 176
41 Montenegro and Serbia 29.25 1% 55% Montenegro, 73% of hours 200
42 Bulgaria and Greece 28.44 53% 32% Greece, 40% of hours 176
43 Bulgaria and Serbia 27.53 0% 54% Bulgaria, 56% of hours 176
44 Denmark West (DK1) and Netherlands 27.04 0% 38% Denmark West (DK1), 74% of hours 176
45 Romania and Serbia 25.87 0% 52% Romania, 53% of hours 176
46 Germany and Luxembourg and France 23.69 2% 27% Germany and Luxembourg, 80% of hours 176
47 Hungary and Romania 22.01 1% 35% Romania, 82% of hours 176
48 Estonia and Latvia 20.37 61% 19% Estonia, 39% of hours 176
49 Germany and Luxembourg and Denmark West (DK1) 19.74 1% 32% Denmark West (DK1), 78% of hours 176
50 North Macedonia and Serbia 19.21 1% 40% Level 200
51 Germany and Luxembourg and Denmark East (DK2) 18.17 0% 30% Denmark East (DK2), 58% of hours 176
52 Italy North and Slovenia 16.90 20% 38% Slovenia, 69% of hours 176
53 Belgium and France 16.38 1% 21% Belgium, 61% of hours 200
54 Switzerland and Italy North 14.69 1% 32% Switzerland, 72% of hours 176
55 Belgium and Germany and Luxembourg 14.40 0% 15% Germany and Luxembourg, 77% of hours 176
56 Austria and Italy North 14.34 7% 26% Austria, 67% of hours 176
57 Austria and Switzerland 14.04 0% 20% Switzerland, 56% of hours 200
58 Denmark East (DK2) and Sweden South (SE4) 13.45 0% 28% Sweden South (SE4), 69% of hours 200
59 Austria and Slovenia 13.20 2% 26% Slovenia, 55% of hours 200
60 Norway South-West (NO2) and Norway West (NO5) 12.60 0% 28% Norway West (NO5), 61% of hours 200
61 Germany and Luxembourg and Netherlands 10.50 0% 11% Germany and Luxembourg, 57% of hours 176
62 Norway North (NO4) and Sweden North (SE1) 10.20 0% 3% Sweden North (SE1), 76% of hours 200
63 Finland and Norway North (NO4) 9.89 0% 2% Finland, 74% of hours 200
64 Norway South-East (NO1) and Norway South-West (NO2) 8.85 1% 16% Norway South-East (NO1), 75% of hours 200
65 Norway North (NO4) and Sweden North-Central (SE2) 8.20 0% 2% Sweden North-Central (SE2), 76% of hours 200
66 Belgium and Netherlands 6.83 0% 5% Netherlands, 64% of hours 176
67 Bulgaria and Romania 6.18 2% 8% Bulgaria, 90% of hours 176
68 Croatia and Slovenia 6.08 1% 1% Slovenia, 84% of hours 176
69 Denmark West (DK1) and Denmark East (DK2) 4.90 1% 5% Denmark West (DK1), 70% of hours 200
70 Sweden North (SE1) and Sweden North-Central (SE2) 4.77 0% 0% Sweden North (SE1), 51% of hours 200
71 Norway South-East (NO1) and Norway West (NO5) 4.49 1% 1% Norway West (NO5), 52% of hours 200
72 Italy Centre-North and Italy Centre-South 3.06 86% 6% Italy Centre-South, 14% of hours 176
73 Finland and Sweden North (SE1) 1.28 0% 0% Sweden North (SE1), 60% of hours 200
74 Lithuania and Latvia 0.46 100% 1% Same price 200
75 Spain and Portugal 0.46 97% 1% Spain, 3% of hours 176
76 Italy Calabria and Italy Sicily 0.00 100% 0% Same price 176
77 Italy Calabria and Italy South 0.00 100% 0% Same price 176
78 Italy Centre-North and Italy North 0.00 100% 0% Same price 176

Identical hours are hours where the two zones' hourly average prices match to the cent. Usually cheaper is the zone with the lower price in more hours, with the share of all compared hours after the name; the rest are hours where the other side was cheaper or the prices were identical. Pairs that share the same price in at least 99.5% of hours read Same price.

Source: ENTSO-E Transparency Platform (transparency.entsoe.eu), CC BY 4.0. Aggregated and converted by World Power Monitor; ENTSO-E does not endorse this site. (ENTSO-E Terms of Use plus CC BY 4.0 for listed data items) Data as of 2026-10-29. Gaps are computed by World Power Monitor from ENTSO-E day-ahead market intervals. Neighbours come from the ENTSO-E physical cross-border flows file.

How These Gaps Are Measured, and What They Do Not Show

  • Neighbours: a pair counts when ENTSO-E's physical cross-border flows file (28 September to 27 October 2026, 88 borders) records flow across the border and both zones have day-ahead prices in euros. The list is derived from that file, so a border with no recorded flow, or with a zone that has no prices, is not here.
  • Hours: each zone's market intervals (15 or 60 minutes) are averaged to the clock hour, and only hours where both zones have a full hour of prices are compared. A pair needs at least 48 such hours. The window is 21 to 29 October 2026, so these are at most 200 hours of prices, not a season or a year, and the newest hours can be a delivery day whose prices were published the day before.
  • Identical prices are what a fully converged market coupling looks like, but a pair can also match by coincidence, and zones at the edge of the coupled area can differ for reasons other than a congested line.
  • A share of hours more than EUR 20.00/MWh apart is a rough indicator that something limited trade between the two zones, for example a full interconnector. It is not proof of congestion: this page uses no capacity, flow limit or congestion rent data, and a wide gap can also come from zones being outside the same coupled market.
  • Prices are day-ahead wholesale prices in EUR, not household prices and not converted. Zones priced in another currency are left out.

Price Gaps Between Zones: Questions and Answers

Why do neighbouring countries have different electricity prices?

Day-ahead prices are set separately for each bidding zone. Neighbouring zones share a price when the power lines between them have room to carry the trade the market wants, and split when they do not. In the window analysed, 21 to 29 October 2026, France and Italy North were EUR 120.83/MWh apart on average, the widest of 78 pairs.

What does it mean when two zones have an identical price?

It means the two zones cleared at the same price in that hour, which happens when the market coupling algorithm did not need to limit trade between them. This page counts hours where the two hourly averages match to the cent.

Does a price gap prove an interconnector is congested?

No. A gap above EUR 20.00/MWh in many hours, as for Norway Central (NO3) and Sweden North-Central (SE2) at 97% of hours, is consistent with a constrained line, but day-ahead prices also differ where the zones are not fully coupled, and this page does not use capacity or congestion data.

How are neighbouring zones chosen?

A pair counts as neighbouring when ENTSO-E reports measured physical flows across the border between the two zones in the cross-border flows data, and both zones have day-ahead prices in euros. Pairs without both prices are left out.

Is this the price I pay or the price traders get?

Neither exactly. These are day-ahead wholesale prices, the market result for each hour of the following day. Household bills add network charges, taxes and supplier margins, and traders also use later markets.

Cite this page
APA 7

World Power Monitor. (2026). Electricity Price Gaps Between Neighbouring Zones. https://worldpowermonitor.com/prices/spreads/

Plain text

World Power Monitor. Electricity Price Gaps Between Neighbouring Zones. Data as of 2026-10-29. Data from ENTSO-E Transparency Platform. https://worldpowermonitor.com/prices/spreads/

BibTeX 
@misc{wpm_prices_spreads_2026,
  title = {{Electricity Price Gaps Between Neighbouring Zones}},
  author = {{World Power Monitor}},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Data as of 2026-10-29. Data from ENTSO-E Transparency Platform.},
  url = {https://worldpowermonitor.com/prices/spreads/}
}

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