​Germany’s intraday market is the deepest and most volatile in Europe. More than a million trades clear every day, with 96 delivery windows open at once and prices swinging wildly within minutes.

For batteries, this is where speed and flexibility deliver exceptional returns. The ability to charge and discharge instantly lets them trade right up to delivery, capturing spreads and avoiding imbalance costs in ways no other asset can.

This report explains what makes Germany’s intraday market unique - and the three ways in which optimisers turn its volatility into revenue.

For any further information on this topic, reach out to the author - till@modoenergy.com

What is the intraday market?

​After the day-ahead auction closes, the intraday market is where positions are reshaped and refined before delivery.

• Intraday auctions (IDA1–3): three sessions that reset prices and volumes, with lower liquidity.
• Continuous trading (IDC): a live order book where bids and offers are matched instantly, right up to five minutes before delivery. This is where batteries can generate most value - and where this report focuses.

Forecast error and reshaping drive volatility

Forecasts are never exact. Weather shifts and demand swings leave gaps between expected and actual output that must be corrected before delivery.

With ~190 GW of intermittent capacity on the system, even small shifts can cause sharp price moves.

On top of this, most renewable output is sold day-ahead in hourly blocks, while actual generation follows a smoother curve. Producers re-trade day-ahead positions in 15-minute chunks in the intraday market, adding more liquidity.

From October, the day-ahead auction also shifts to 15-minute products, removing this mismatch - but forecast error will still drive volatility.

Why it’s the perfect arena for batteries

Intraday trading is risky when every position has to be closed in the market. Batteries change that dynamic.

They act as a physical hedge - charging when long, discharging when short - and give traders the speed to operate right up to delivery, when liquidity is deepest and spreads are widest.

Put simply: without a battery, you can’t trade intraday to its full potential.

Germany has the most liquid intraday market in Europe

Germany’s intraday market clears more than a million trades a day - the most liquid in Europe. Liquidity comes from both size and design: