The Bundesnetzagentur's electricity market information platform "SMARD" has been online since 2017. SMARD is an abbreviation of the German term "Strommarktdaten", which translates to electricity market data. Data that is published on the SMARD website gives an up-to-date overview of what is happening on the electricity market. Articles with background information describe important electricity market terms and relationships. The appealing design of SMARD’s website with charts that are simple to understand makes it easy to access the information on the website in two languages.

How high is electricity supply and demand? How big is the share of electricity generated from renewable sources? How does electricity consumption change over the course of the day? How much electricity does Germany import from and exported to its neighbours? How high is the wholesale electricity price in Germany and in other countries? SMARD's market data provides answers to these and many other questions. The SMARD platform is divided into five main sections: Electricity market topics, Electricity market explained, Market data visuals, German electricity market and Data download.

Individual tables and diagrams present current market data in a clear manner

The Market data visuals section contains data on electricity generation, consumption, market trading, balancing and several subcategories. Each associated component can be shown or hidden in any combination. Graphics can be customised by combining data categories and moving the components around to change the order in which they appear. This feature is especially helpful in showing the interplay between numerous factors on the electricity market.

The following electricity market data categories can be accessed on the Market data visuals page:

• Electricity generation
  • Actual generation
  • Forecasted generation
  • Installed generation capacity
• Electricity consumption
  • Actual consumption
  • Forecasted consumption
• Market
  • Day-ahead prices
  • Scheduled commercial exchanges
  • Cross-border physical flows
• Balancing
  • Balancing energy
  • Costs
  • Frequency Containment Reserve
  • Automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve
  • Manual Frequency Restoration Reserve
  • Exported balancing services
  • Imported balancing services

Essentially, SMARD’s data is made available in accordance with the electricity transparency Regulation on the submission and publication of data in electricity markets (Commission Regulation (EU) No 543/2013). This regulation requires the German transmission system operators (TSOs) to supply certain data to the European network of transmission system operators (ENTSO-E). SMARD retrieves the data from there automatically. Data are first examined for correctness and completeness, then further processed, laid out in a clear manner and published on the SMARD website. The Bundesnetzagentur is constantly exchanging information with the TSOs in order to continuously improve data quality.

Market data can be downloaded and used free of charge

One interesting site feature for users who want to do more with the data is that all of the data and visuals available on SMARD can be downloaded. In the Data download section you can export up to two years of data in one file. This makes further analysis and use of data possible, including for research purposes. Notes on the use of SMARD data can be found here.
Visuals that you have configured can also be downloaded in various formats by clicking on "More" and selecting the file format for exporting.

Various articles supplement the published data

To learn more about a certain category, visit the Electricity market explained section where you can find helpful explanations. More technical terms related to the electricity market are explained there. Detailed articles about long-term trends on the electricity market regularly appear in the Electricity market topics section.

The SMARD ticker offers brief articles with information on important recent developments that are noticeable in the SMARD data, for example when feed-in from renewables was very high and various aspects of the market were affected by it. The ticker also provides information about existing and new platform functions.

The sections complement the graphically visualised market data with helpful and up-to-date information that is processed for a wide target audience. This is how SMARD increases transparency in the electricity market.

Always well informed with the RSS feed

The RSS feed keeps you informed of new content on the SMARD website. You will receive automatic notification each time a news ticker or article is posted in the Electricity market topics or Electricity market explained section. This service is free of charge and does not require you to provide any contact information. Further information about subscribing to the SMARD RSS feed is available here.

The "German electricity market" section provides data on renewables, power plants and other key figures for Germany

Data in the German electricity market section of SMARD is illustrated in a clear manner on a map of the German market area. This map gives users a geographic overview of power generation in Germany. Which part of Germany has the most power plants? What is the dominant source of energy generation in different regions? The generating facilities’ core data can be viewed there. Additionally, feed-in time series are also provided for power plants with an installed generation capacity that exceeds 100 megawatts for each power generation unit.

Other important statistics such as electricity consumption and wholesale prices are illustrated on the market area map in the German electricity market section. The data is updated automatically at regular intervals, which means that users can always access an up-to-date overview of the situation in Germany and its neighbouring countries.

SMARD users can save tables and diagrams in their personal account

The User Login page is helpful for frequent users. Once users have created an account, they can use it to save tables and diagrams that they generate on SMARD and easily retrieve them later. Depending on the setting used, graphics previously saved may either show data for a specific period of time or up-to-date data for the categories specified. The same applies to interesting articles from the Electricity market topics and Electricity market explained sections. In short, you can personalise your SMARD experience on the User Login page.

Detailed information about the platform is available in the User guide.

You can use the feedback form to ask questions or provide feedback. Click on the "More" button on any of the five main sections of the site. You can also reach the SMARD team by email at SMARD@BNetzA.de.

SMARD recognised as digital leader

Digital Leader Award

The Bundesnetzagentur demonstrates through the SMARD platform how to achieve a high level of transparency on a complex topic. That convinced the jury of the Digital Leader Awards, which awarded SMARD third place in the "Digitize Society" category in 2018. The prize is awarded annually to companies and authorities that shape digital transformation.