EPEX SPOT and ECC successfully launch Intraday auctions in Austria, Belgium, France and the Netherlands
Paris/ Leipzig, 15 October 2020. The European Power Exchange EPEX SPOT and its clearing house European Commodity Clearing (ECC) successfully launched new local Intraday auctions in four countries: Austria, Belgium, France and the Netherlands. The first trading day was 14 October 2020. Market results are available here. These products complement the already existing local 15 minute Intraday auction in Germany, the coupled 30 minute Intraday auctions in Great Britain as well as the coupled 60 minute Intraday auctions in Switzerland.
Ralph Danielski, Chief Executive Officer of EPEX SPOT, comments: “These contracts have been among the most requested innovations in our annual customer survey. Intraday auctions play a key role in providing further granularity and balancing opportunities. In a market with an increasing number of renewable assets, they are essential in facilitating a cost-efficient energy transition, delivering a reliable reference price.”
In Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands 15 minute contracts are tradable, 30 minute contracts are available in France. The Austrian, Belgian and Dutch order books close at 15:00 CET and the 96 quarter hours of the following day are traded. The French order books close at 14:30 CET, with 48 half-hourly contracts for delivery on the following day. EPEX offers linear as well as block orders for trading, meaning that the quarter- and half-hours can be traded individually, or combined in a block order. This functionality allows market participants to adapt their orders to particular generation patterns and consumption profiles.
Dr Thomas Siegl, Chief Risk Officer of ECC adds: “Clearing of the new intraday products is provided within ECC’s established standard processes and delivery chains which minimises the efforts for customers. In addition, participants can benefit from our cross-margining solutions across all spot markets and contracts”.
EPEX SPOT and ECC launched the first Intraday auction in Germany in 2014, followed by Intraday auctions in Great Britain and Switzerland. Since their launch, there has been a significant increase in liquidity on these market segments – reaching a combined trading volume of nearly 8.5 TWh in 2019. These flexibility contracts facilitate the integration of intermittent electricity flows into the market, therefore playing a key role in the decarbonisation of the energy sector.
-ENDS