Across Europe, market facilitation hubs are becoming critical infrastructure for a well-functioning, liberalized energy market. Over the past five years, progress has accelerated as countries have moved from fragmented data exchange models toward centralized datahubs that improve transparency, efficiency and trust across the energy value chain.

As the electricity market becomes more digital, decentralized and consumer-driven, these platforms increasingly shape how markets operate and how public policy objectives are delivered.

Throughout this paper, market facilitation hubs refers to the broader concept of centralized market infrastructure. In practice, this is most often implemented through national datahubs, which are the primary focus of the analysis.

The availability of centralized datahubs is widely recognized as a key enabler of effective retail energy markets. This is particularly evident in North-Western Europe, where development has gained significant momentum: Norway (2019), Finland (2022) and Poland (2025) have each launched major national initiatives, while discussions on further centralization are intensifying in Germany and Sweden. With many foundational systems now in place, this is an opportune time to assess the current state of datahubs in the EU and the trends shaping their next phase of evolution.

The growing role of datahubs

Most countries in North-Western Europe now operate mature datahubs that support a broad set of market processes, including connection registers, customer switching to metering data management, imbalance settlement and in some cases grid fee billing. These platforms have become the backbone of day-to-day market operations, enabling more efficient interactions between network operators, suppliers and customers.

Key drivers behind these systems include:

  • Improved customer experience
  • A healthy and competitive retail market
  • Higher data quality and consistency

Data quality has become particularly critical in more fragmented markets such as Poland and Germany, where diverse IT landscapes and inconsistent data models have historically led to inefficiencies and higher operating costs. Centralized datahubs help address these challenges by establishing a single source of truth and standardized market processes.

Datahubs as tools for public policy and market resilience

Beyond their technical role, datahubs are increasingly being used as instruments of public policy and market transparency. Recent global events have demonstrated how these platforms can be rapidly leveraged to support large-scale policy responses and protect consumers during periods of market stress.

Finnish Customer Access Portal

During the period of heightened price volatility following the conflict in Ukraine, consumer demand for insight into energy usage and contracts increased significantly. In Finland, many households turned to the Fingrid Customer Access Portal, a neutral national service that provides consumers full visibility into their electricity data, regardless of supplier.

Originally designed to support privacy and compliance requirements, the portal has since evolved into a vital transparency tool. By giving consumers direct access to their own data, it has strengthened trust in the market and reinforced the role of the datahub as a neutral intermediary between commercial actors and end users.

NorgesPris (Norway)

In mid-2025, amid political pressure over high electricity prices, the Norwegian Parliament introduced Norgespris, a fixed-price support scheme for households. From October 1, 2025, households can opt into a fixed rate of 0.40 NOK per kWh (0.50 NOK incl. VAT), with the government compensating suppliers for the price difference.

To ensure neutrality and rapid implementation, Elhub, Norway’s national Datahub, was selected to host the consumer application platform. This decision highlights how Datahubs can enable complex policy measures at scale while preserving market neutrality and operational efficiency.

Designing for the future: Consent and identity

The Finnish and Norwegian examples highlight the growing importance of customer identifiers and consent management in datahub design. Datahubs that were not originally built with clear customer identification mechanisms have struggled to support capabilities such as consumer access portals, cross-supplier transparency and consent-based data sharing.

As energy markets continue to digitalize, robust data access and consent functionality are no longer a “nice-to-have.” Under evolving EU legislation, it is becoming a regulatory necessity. For leaders across the electricity market, mastering this layer is essential to unlocking the next generation of market services, including:

  • Flexibility markets that allow consumers to securely trade load-shedding capabilities
  • Demand response mechanisms that incentivize usage during periods of high renewable generation
  • Innovative ecosystems where third-party providers can offer personalized energy services

Key takeaways

  • Enable consumer portals: Neutral, centralized access to energy data strengthens transparency and consumer trust
  • Design for privacy and connectivity: Linking connection points to customer identifiers unlocks new market services
  • Embed consent management early: EU-mandated consent frameworks should be integrated into datahub architecture from the outset Prepare for new services: Future datahubs will underpin data-driven innovation and

Looking ahead, market facilitation hubs will play an increasingly central role in shaping how the EU electricity market functions and evolves. As regulatory expectations grow and new data-driven services emerge, these platforms must be designed for adaptability as well as stability.

Datahubs that combine neutrality, robust governance and consumer-centric design will be best equipped to support resilient markets and sustained innovation.