Abstract
The liberalization of the electricity sector in Europe was formalized in 1996 with the publication of the first directive, which had been in preparation for about 10 years. Two other directives then followed in 2003 and 2009; the third, better known as the “climate energy package”, introduced ambitious objectives for the promotion of renewable energies and energy efficiency. The liberalization of the electricity sector required the Member States to open up both the activity of electricity production and that of electricity supply. The core of the market system is formed by the spot market, a wholesale market on which electricity produced by certain sources and that purchased by others are exchanged hour by hour. Capacity markets offer an advantage for electricity producers, as they provide them with an income complementing that obtained on the wholesale market, and thus contributing to covering fixed costs.