Luxembourg, 10th June, 2025: Joint Allocation Office (JAO), which provides a one-stop-shop to support the European electricity capacity market, has announced an investment in its cross border auction platform.
The next generation platform, developed in partnership with Unicorn Systems, a specialised technology provider for energy market solutions, will create a fast, flexible and scalable transmission capacity marketplace for Europe. As the Single Allocation Platform (SAP) for all EU pan-EU Transmission System Operators (TSOs), it will be key in enabling the EU’s drive for electricity market integration to sustain rising electricity demand, whilst also supporting the energy transition.
The new platform is designed to grow with demand, using a flexible state of the art architecture that easily integrates with third party systems, supporting the EU’s ambition to scale interconnection capacity to at least 15 per cent by 2030. The upgraded solution will be funded and supported by more than 30 TSOs. It will replace JAO’s current electronic capacity auction tool (eCAT), which allocates short and long-term transmission capacity rights for more than 500 market participants and over 40 TSOs across Europe.
The upgrades will provide open systems and cloud technology, allowing JAO to swiftly roll out new features and services that will enable seamless adaptation to electricity market shifts. The next generation platform will feature an intuitive, user-friendly interface co-designed with market participants and TSOs to significantly enhance user experience. Automations and proactive monitoring will also enable more efficient trading operations, whilst also complying with the highest cybersecurity standards and regulations, including NIS2 and ISO27001.
“The aim is to create a dynamic one-stop-shop online electricity marketplace, capable of scaling and adapting to support the EU’s ambitious plans for electricity system integration,” said Thomas Kieffer, COO at JAO. “It will be fully future proof to support the rapid expected expansion of interconnections and looming regulatory shifts in the EU electricity market. Built for interoperability and ease of use, the new platform will lower barriers to mass participation in electricity markets and bring us a step closer to a single electricity ecosystem delivering cheaper, cleaner power for Europe.”
Daniel Ševčík, Unicorn Grid Systems General Manager, added: “We are proud to support JAO and 500+ European market participants with a strategic platform that ensures secure and reliable capacity allocation. Built on our DAMAS MMS:E product, this platform is designed for the future — it’s scalable, user-friendly and ready to support the evolving needs of the integrated European electricity market.”
The investment, which is scheduled for completion by 2027, reinforces JAO’s role as the SAP for cross-border electricity capacity allocation throughout Europe. JAO will provide technical expertise and a dedicated engineering team throughout the transition to ensure the resiliency of service.
