Epex Spot Says Nordic Political Resistance to Cross-Border Links Is Slowing European Grid Buildout
Epex Spot's head told Montel that political resistance in Nordic countries to new power interconnectors is delaying capacity European markets need.
The head of pan-European power exchange Epex Spot told Montel on Friday (2026-08-21) that growing Nordic opposition to cross-border electricity links is "slowing down a much-needed increase in connections." He called deeper European power market integration a "no-brainer" for strengthening the continent's grid.4
His remarks come three months after the pan-European day-ahead auction exposed a hard constraint in European grid capacity. During the week of 2026-05-11, spot prices hit the then-prevailing exchange floor of minus EUR 500/MWh — a limit Epex Spot had not previously needed to revise. On Monday (2026-05-18), Epex Spot told Montel it would lower the floor by EUR 100/MWh, taking it to minus EUR 600/MWh from Friday (2026-05-29). Prices compressing against the exchange's own permitted limit pointed to renewable generation surpluses that available cross-border capacity could not redirect toward markets with higher prices.1
Sweden provided the most visible recent example of the resistance he described. Stockholm paused planning for a new 1 gigawatt electricity link with Denmark on Friday (2026-05-15), citing a dispute over proposed new EU grid rules. A Danish energy industry lobby said Sweden was going in the "wrong direction" and pressed for the pause to be reversed.2
The stated justification was a regulatory dispute over proposed EU grid rules, and that disagreement remains unresolved. Denmark's industry lobby directed its criticism at Stockholm rather than at Brussels, suggesting that the route back to active planning runs through bilateral pressure as much as through any revision to the EU framework itself.2
Epex Spot's head did not name specific countries or projects when speaking to Montel on Friday (2026-08-21), but his description of Nordic opposition as "growing" implies Sweden's Friday (2026-05-15) pause is not the only pressure building on the interconnection pipeline.4
The European case for interconnection has been building for reasons beyond Nordic surplus management alone. As North Sea offshore wind buildout accelerates, British regulators expect the UK to shift toward net power exports — a prospect that requires the same type of cross-border capacity now facing political resistance across the Nordic region, the Economist has noted.3
The economic logic is clear enough at the technical level. When surplus generation pushes prices to the bottom of the permitted range, as happened during the week of 2026-05-11, value that cannot cross borders is destroyed rather than traded. Lowering the floor from minus EUR 500/MWh to minus EUR 600/MWh from Friday (2026-05-29) extends the range over which markets can clear but does not add the transmission routes that would prevent such surpluses from accumulating in the first place.1
The EU grid rules dispute remains the central obstacle. Sweden cited it in May (2026-05-15) as grounds for suspending the Denmark link. That regulatory argument has not been settled, and while it persists, Nordic countries that share Stockholm's concerns have cover to hold back from new project commitments.2
The immediate catalyst is any movement on those EU grid rules: either an amendment addressing Nordic objections or a bilateral arrangement between Sweden and Denmark that sidesteps the broader regulatory fight. Absent that, the gap Epex Spot's head described on Friday (2026-08-21) between the interconnection Europe needs and the political will to build it is likely to widen as renewable capacity grows faster than the transmission needed to carry it.2,4