300 experts discuss trading of EEG power on the Exchange
Berlin, 12 July 2011. Under the impression of the recent changes in German energy policy, the German regulator, Bundesnetzagentur, and the European Power Exchange, EPEX SPOT SE, invited to a joint conference in Berlin. Experts from the energy business, science and administration used the forum to discuss the upcoming challenges. Under the motto “Eighteen months of power from renewables on the exchange” the participants reasoned about the experiences made with the marketing of EEG power on the exchange and its perspectives. The interest in the conference was particularly high, as 300 people attended.
“The first step of an approach of the EEG equalisation system to the market, the marketing of EEG power on the exchange since 2010, functioned smoothly and did not influence the market price for electric energy. There was no sign of market distortion. At the same time, the volumes of the auction have increased significantly”, said Iris Weidinger, Chairman of the board of directors of EPEX SPOT and draw a positive conclusion of the EEG marketing. So did the president of the Federal Network Agency, Matthias Kurth, who evaluated the EEG marketing on the exchange as a significant step forward. He saw, however, further need for development: “After the decision on the law package on Germany’s energy policy four days ago, it is now the right moment to talk about future possibilities of direct marketing and discuss proposals of further optimisation of the EEG balancing system. The percentage of renewables in the power production shall almost double by 2020. If we continue to develop the framework and maintain the installation speed, we can achieve this goal“, explained Kurth.
Simultaneously, there is a rising demand for green power trading on the spot exchange: EPEX SPOT presented a first model at the conference. The exchange considers a two-step auction, in which first power and then its green origin are traded. The practical implementation will require further studies.
The conference was the prelude for a report by the Federal Network Agency. Its goal is to identify ways of optimising the existing EEG equalisation system and, at the same time, to develop possibilities of transferring EEG marketing by the TSOs to one or more independent third parties.
On the basis of the results and the momentum of the conference, the model proposals shall be further developed and debated in autumn. “I invite all market participants and stakeholders to join in these consultations”, said Kurth.
The speeches by Iris Weidinger and Matthias Kurth are published on the websites of the Federal Network Agency (www.bundesnetzagentur.de) and EPEX SPOT (www.epexspot.com).