Clean Energy Package

The Clean Energy for All Europeans Package (CEP) is a set of EU legislative acts adopted in 2018–2019 that collectively rewrite the rules for European electricity markets. For the wiki’s topic — flexibility in the distribution grid — the CEP is the legal framework that defines what DSOs must do, what market participants can do, and how flexibility is procured.

2024 Electricity Market Design Reform

In June 2024 the EU adopted two amending instruments that significantly expand the CEP framework:

This reform is documented in detail at Electricity Market Design Reform 2024.

Original CEP legislation

The package includes eight legislative acts adopted in 2018–2019. The two most relevant to flexibility are:

Other package components (not yet ingested as sources):

• Regulation (EU) 2019/942 — ACER Regulation (governance of the EU energy regulator)
• Regulation (EU) 2019/941 — Risk Preparedness Regulation
• Directive (EU) 2018/2001 — Renewable Energy Directive (RED II; recast as RED III in 2023)
• Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 — Governance Regulation
• Directive (EU) 2018/2002 — Energy Efficiency Directive (amending)
• Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 — Energy Performance of Buildings (amending)

The CEP’s flexibility framework

The package establishes a coherent, multi-level framework for flexibility:

Principles

• Demand Response, energy storage, and generation participate in markets on equal footing (Regulation Art. 3(j))
• Market rules must facilitate flexible demand and flexible generation (Regulation Art. 3(c))
• Congestion management must be market-based (Regulation Art. 13, Directive Art. 32)

Consumer/prosumer level

• Active customers have the right to participate in flexibility schemes, self-generate, store, and sell electricity (Directive Art. 15)
• Customers can engage independent aggregators without supplier consent (Directive Art. 13)
• Citizen energy communities can collectively participate in flexibility markets (Directive Art. 16)
• No double charges for stored electricity when providing flexibility (Directive Art. 15(5)(b))

DSO level

• DSOs must act as neutral market facilitators (Directive Art. 31(5))
• DSOs must procure flexibility (including congestion management) via market-based procedures (Directive Art. 32(1))
• DSOs must publish network development plans showing flexibility needs and alternatives to grid expansion (Directive Art. 32(3))
• DSOs cannot own energy storage except where market fails to deliver (Directive Art. 36)

TSO/wholesale level

• Balancing markets must be open to aggregation, DR, and storage (Regulation Art. 6)
• Redispatching must be market-based; non-market-based is the exception (Regulation Art. 13)
• The 70% rule ensures minimum cross-zonal capacity for trade (Regulation Art. 16(8))
• Bidding zones must reflect structural congestion; reviewed every three years (Regulation Art. 14)

Coordination

• DSOs and TSOs must cooperate to ensure distribution-connected resources can participate in wholesale and balancing markets (Directive Art. 31(9))
• ENTSO-E and the new EU DSO Entity coordinate network codes and guidelines

2024 reform: key additions to the CEP flexibility framework

The 2024 reform adds several provisions directly relevant to the wiki’s focus:

Art. 19e — Flexibility Needs Assessment (FNA)

Creates the mandatory biennial national FNA. This is the primary EU legal basis for Sweden’s Flexibility Need Assessment process. ACER-approved methodology (ACER Decision 05-2025); Sweden’s first FNA due July 2026. See Flexibility Need Assessment.

Art. 6a (Directive) — Flexible connection agreements

EU-level mandate for regulatory authorities to develop frameworks for flexible connection agreements (the EU equivalent of Swedish Villkorade Avtal). Permanent solutions explicitly permitted where reinforcement is not efficient. Transposition deadline 17 July 2026. See Villkorade Avtal.

Art. 15a (Directive) — Energy sharing

Right to energy sharing for households, SMEs, and public bodies — facilities up to 6 MW, within a bidding zone or more limited area. Transposition deadline 17 July 2026.

Art. 19d — Two-way CfDs for new renewables

From 17 July 2027, public support for new wind/solar/geothermal/run-of-river/nuclear must be structured as two-way contracts for difference. Above the strike price, revenues are redistributed to final customers.

Art. 18(2)(c) — Tariff support for flexibility

Network tariff methodologies must explicitly “support the use of flexibility services and enable the use of flexible connections.” This is the EU-level anchor for Ei‘s TOTEX/lösningsneutralitet reform. See Flexibility › The CAPEX bias problem.

Short-term market reforms

• 15-minute day-ahead implemented 30 September 2025
• 30-minute intraday gate closure from 1 January 2026
• 100 kW minimum bid for day-ahead and intraday markets

Swedish relevance

As an EU/EEA Member State, Sweden must implement the full CEP framework. Key implications:

• Ei (Energimarknadsinspektionen) is the regulatory authority with oversight over DSO flexibility procurement, network tariffs, and market design
• Swedish DSOs (E.ON Energidistribution, Ellevio, Vattenfall Eldistribution, etc.) must comply with Art. 32 flexibility procurement requirements
• Villkorade Avtal are a rules-based mechanism — the Directive permits these but prefers market-based procurement. The relationship between villkorade avtal and Art. 32’s market-based preference is a key regulatory tension
• Svenska kraftnät‘s Bidding Areas (SE1–SE4) are subject to the Art. 14 review process — the structural north-south congestion must be addressed via action plans or zone reconfiguration
• The 70% rule constrains how much Svk can limit cross-border capacity, reinforcing the need for both grid expansion (NordSyd) and Flexibility
• Flow-Based Capacity Calculation (adopted October 2024) is partly motivated by the CEP’s capacity allocation framework

Network codes and guidelines

The CEP’s principles are operationalized through a family of network codes and guidelines:

Existing — System Operation Guideline (SO GL)

The SO GL (Regulation 2017/1485) predates the CEP (August 2017) but provides the operational backbone for TSO system operation. It establishes the reserve hierarchy (FCR, FRR, RR), prequalification frameworks, system states, TSO-DSO data exchange obligations, and the TSO-DSO cooperation requirements for reserve delivery from distribution systems (Art. 182). The SO GL’s reserve providing unit/group definitions explicitly include demand units and form the foundation on which the NC DR builds.

Other existing codes: CACM (Regulation 2015/1222, capacity allocation and congestion management), EB GL (Regulation 2017/2195, electricity balancing), FCA (Regulation 2016/1719, forward capacity allocation), RfG (Regulation 2016/631, generator requirements), DCC (Regulation 2016/1388, demand connection).

Forthcoming — Network Code on Demand Response

The Network Code on Demand Response (NC DR) is the most significant upcoming addition, establishing detailed rules for flexibility market participation, prequalification, data exchange, and TSO-DSO coordination. See the ENTSO-E/EU DSO Entity proposal and ACER’s recommendation for the current state of this legislation.

Data gaps

• Full CEP 2019 Art. 32 transposition mapping — granular ellagen provision-by-provision map not yet assembled; individual pieces covered (Source - Ellag (1997-857), Source - EIFS 2024-1 Nätutvecklingsplaner (konsoliderad), Source - Förordning (2022-585) om elnätsverksamhet) but no synthesis page
• Svk’s Swedish-specific bidding zone analysis (May 2025 government assignment) — the EU-wide review (April 2025) confirmed SE1–SE4 maintained; the follow-on Svk analysis addresses Swedish-specific conditions and is underway; no results published as of May 2026
• Art. 15a energy sharing — Prop. 2025/26:240 includes energy sharing provisions (in force Jan 2027); implementing regulations not yet published; no RECs/CECs (only bilateral energy sharing within bidding zone)