NeoGrid® AI & Pricing: Real-Time vs. Day-Ahead — Explained with an Example

Written by Vincent Moser
February 4, 2026

To provide targeted grid support and generate savings, NeoGrid® AI uses real-time prices.

The prices in your dynamic tariff, on the other hand, are based on forecasts that are set on the electricity market the day before (day-ahead prices). These forecasts are based, among other things, on weather predictions. You can see these prices in the Ostrom app in your SimplyDynamic price curve for the following day.

Typical questions that feed into these forecasts include, for example:

• How much electricity is expected to be generated in each hour?
• How much electricity is expected to be consumed in each hour?

How are real-time prices created?

Once day-ahead prices are set, they no longer change for the dynamic tariff.

In reality, however, the power system is dynamic.

• The weather changes → more or less wind and solar power than expected
• Consumption changes → households and businesses use more or less electricity than forecast

These changes cause fluctuations in the grid, to which the electricity market responds in real time with adjusted prices.

• If a lot of wind power suddenly becomes available → prices fall
• If demand rises → prices increase

Important to know

• Even though NeoGrid® AI works with different prices, your electricity contract is always billed at the day-ahead prices of your SimplyDynamic tariff.

• Unlike the SimplyDynamic tariff, the real-time market does not have a single fixed price per hour that can be displayed as a simple list. Real-time prices can vary every second, and NeoGrid® AI responds continuously to these changes. That’s why there is no such thing as “the NeoGrid® AI price for 1:00 p.m.”

What the different prices mean for you

The difference between the expected day-ahead prices and the actual real-time situation in the power grid creates savings potential.

NeoGrid® AI uses real-time price signals to continuously reschedule your electricity demand in the market, purchase electricity at the most favorable moments, and sell it again when needed.

The savings generated in this way become your NeoGrid® Credits—as a thank you for your grid support and your contribution to a more efficient power system.

👉🏻 How savings and your credits are created.

Example: How NeoGrid® AI uses prices

Imagine that at 12:00 noon on the previous day, the forecast prices (day-ahead) for the following day are set:

• 12–1 p.m.: €0.09 / kWh
• 1–2 p.m.: €0.10 / kWh

You see these values in the price overview—they apply to your dynamic tariff and remain unchanged for billing.

The next day, reality changes.

10:00 a.m.: New weather data shows that more wind than expected will arrive around midday.

• The current real-time price for the delivery hour 12–1 p.m. drops, for example, to €0.05 / kWh.

• The current real-time price for 1–2 p.m. drops to €0.06 / kWh.

• From the real-time market’s perspective, the additional wind power combined with unchanged demand leads to a higher electricity supply in the grid—and therefore to significantly lower prices than forecast.

• Both hours are now very suitable for charging. NeoGrid® AI schedules charging during this period and procures the electricity on the real-time market.

12:00 noon: Temperatures drop, heating increases—demand from 1 p.m. onward rises.

• The real-time price for 1–2 p.m. rises again, for example back to €0.10 / kWh.
• For 12–1 p.m., which is just starting or already underway, the effect remains: this hour was significantly cheaper than expected.
• In the real-time market, increased heating with heat pumps combined with unchanged electricity supply leads to higher demand—and thus to higher prices compared to the forecast.
• The hour from 1–2 p.m. is therefore less suitable for charging. NeoGrid® AI adjusts the charging plan: the charging scheduled for this hour is shifted to a later, cheaper time. The charging plan for 12–1 p.m. remains unchanged.

What does this mean for NeoGrid® AI?

• According to the day-ahead forecast, both hours were “moderately priced.”
• At times, both delivery hours (12–1 p.m. and 1–2 p.m.) were very well suited for charging from the real-time market’s perspective due to the high electricity supply. NeoGrid® AI therefore tries to place your charging in these hours and procures the required electricity accordingly.
• Shortly afterward, the situation changes again: the price for 1–2 p.m. rises back to the originally expected level. For NeoGrid® AI, 12–1 p.m. is now clearly the more attractive hour. NeoGrid® AI shifts charging as much as possible into this more grid-friendly hour and avoids 1–2 p.m.—as long as your charging window allows for a later, cheaper time. The electricity originally procured is sold and repurchased for a different time.

It is precisely in situations like these that the savings are created from which your credits result.

👉🏻 Why didn’t NeoGrid® AI charge at the cheapest day-ahead prices?