Svk Månadsrapport Balansmarknader Februari 2026

Svenska kraftnät’s monthly balancing market report for February 2026. Covers all three Nordic balancing product groups: FCR (capacity), aFRR CM (capacity), mFRR CM (capacity), and mFRR EAM (energy activation market). Contains monthly mean prices, hourly/quarterly price series, volume data by bidding area and Nordic country, and production context (hydro, wind, spot prices).

Report period: February 2026 (covers 1–28 February 2026)

FCR capacity prices — February 2026

All values in EUR/MW. Source: Svk weighted monthly averages.

Trend notes (Feb-26 vs prior periods):

• All three FCR products increased month-on-month from January
• FCR-N and FCR-D upp are somewhat above February 2025 levels
• FCR-D ned is similar to February 2025

FCR-N vs FCR-D price ratio: FCR-N at 30.9 EUR/MW is approximately 3.7× FCR-D upp and 14.7× FCR-D ned in monthly mean terms. The max-to-mean ratio is large for all products (FCR-N max 96.2 vs mean 30.9 = 3.1×), indicating high intra-month price volatility.

aFRR capacity market (CM) prices — February 2026

aFRR CM up

EUR/MW. Comparison months from the bar chart (p. 8); the March 2026 report later revised January SE1/SE2 to 5.9 / 8.0.

SE3/SE4 prices fell month-on-month; SE1/SE2 rose slightly. All zones are lower than February 2025, particularly SE3 and SE4. Max prices (66.9 EUR/MW in SE3/SE4) reflect periodic scarcity events.

aFRR CM down

EUR/MW. All zones share the same maximum (42.1 EUR/MW).

Key observation: aFRR down prices exceed aFRR up prices in three of the four Swedish bidding areas for February 2026 (SE1: 12.6 ned vs 6.4 upp; SE2: 13.0 ned vs 8.1 upp; SE3: 11.1 ned vs 9.8 upp) — with approximate parity in SE4 (8.1 ned vs 9.7 upp, i.e. upp slightly exceeds ned there). This reflects Sweden’s structural situation: the system needs more downward flexibility in the southern zones (excess renewable injection), but for capacity reservation the downward market is clearing at higher prices in most zones.

Share of Sweden’s aFRR CM requirement called in Sweden

The chart (p. 10, “Volymkrav och svenska avrop”) shows how much of Sweden’s own aFRR requirement was called from Swedish resources; the rest is met through the common Nordic capacity market. Almost none of the upward requirement was met in Sweden in February (8% in December, 2% in January), and 48% of the downward (61% and 65%). Finland had the largest called volume for aFRR up and Norway for aFRR down; SE4 had no calls at all.

mFRR capacity market (CM) prices — February 2026

mFRR CM up

EUR/MW. All four areas showed slight declines from January.

SE3/SE4 dramatically lower than Feb-25 — reflecting the shift from tight winter conditions. SE4 had both the highest mean (22.4 EUR/MW) and the highest hourly price (222.1 EUR/MW), and SE3 and SE4 had the highest maxima of the month.

mFRR CM down

EUR/MW.

Large north-south spread in mFRR CM down: SE1/SE2 at 12.5–15.2 EUR/MW vs SE3/SE4 at only 2.4 EUR/MW. SE1 and SE2 have structural deficit conditions in winter (large hydro exports) making downward regulation scarce; SE3/SE4 have abundant downward regulation supply (thermal, imports). This spread is highly consistent with the bidding-area volume data: SE1 provides 550 MW mFRR CM down in 2026 (vs only 132 MW from SE3 — see Source - Svk Behov av Reserver 2026).

Share of Sweden’s mFRR CM requirement called in Sweden

These are shares of Sweden’s own mFRR requirement (p. 14), not of the Nordic total: most of Sweden’s mFRR capacity is procured from Swedish resources, unlike aFRR. The requirement was lower in February because the month is shorter and because of the variable demand on mFRR CM.

mFRR energy activation market (EAM) — February 2026

The EAM spread is the difference between the spot price and the actual mFRR activation price for quarters where mFRR was dispatched. It represents the true cost of an imbalance for a BRP.

Monthly mean spreads (EUR/MWh, February 2026)

Up spread increased in SE1/SE2 and decreased in SE3/SE4 from January. Down spread decreased in SE1/SE2/SE4, increased slightly in SE3.

SE3/SE4 show significantly higher up-regulation spreads (+61/+65 EUR/MWh) than SE1/SE2 (+39 EUR/MWh), consistent with more expensive activation events in the southern consumption zones. The quarterly price series show large spikes in SE3/SE4 (the y-axis is capped in the charts, indicating extreme outlier events).

Production and spot price context

• Hydro production: fell from January to February; slightly above February 2025
• Wind production: similar to January; somewhat below February 2025
• Spot prices: monthly averages increased slightly in all four bidding areas from January to February 2026

No absolute spot price values are given in the textual summaries, but the trend (rising slightly from Jan) is consistent with the FCR-N price increase.

Relevance to wiki themes

• Balancing Markets: fills the previously flagged data gap on Nordic balancing market prices; FCR-N/FCR-D price ratio confirmed empirically; aFRR down > up in SE1–SE3 (approximate parity in SE4); about 81% (up) and 95% (down) of Sweden’s mFRR requirement met by Swedish resources, against near 0% and 48% for aFRR; mFRR EAM spread as true imbalance cost
• Bidding Areas: north-south price spreads in mFRR CM down (SE1/SE2 6× more expensive than SE3/SE4) directly illustrate the SE1/SE2 generation surplus vs SE3/SE4 consumption surplus structural dynamic
• Svenska kraftnät: Svk meets most of its mFRR capacity need domestically (95% down, 81% up) but imports nearly all of its upward aFRR through the Nordic capacity market
• Energy Storage: FCR-N max of 96 EUR/MW shows that high-value events exist; the FCR-N mean (~31 EUR/MW) vs FCR-D upp mean (~8 EUR/MW) is the key commercial driver for battery storage preferring FCR-N