Second Meeting Exchange Council
Paris/Leipzig, 7 December 2009 – The second meeting of EPEX Spot Exchange Council chaired by Dr. Günther Rabensteiner was held on December 2nd in Vienna. Two main topics were discussed: Prices spikes on the French Auction and the impact of the new law on renewable energy (Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz) on the German/Austrian Auction.
The Exchange Council got a detailed report on the situation and the consequences of price peaks which occurred in the French Auction on 18 October 2009 with delivery on 19 October 2009. The Exchange Council discussed in particular the measures implemented by EPEX Spot. The Council members appreciate and support the adaptation of the further improved book closure procedure which ensures that a second auction on the French market can be done, if necessary.
With regard to the German/Austrian Auction, the Exchange Council members discussed likely impacts of the marketing of EEG power by transmission system operators (TSOs) on the Exchange Spot Market. In view of negative prices, the Exchange is able to run a second auction when the prices are below -150€ and when the Phelix Day Base index differs significantly from the OTC price, if any.
In this context, the Exchange Council would like to reaffirm the role of EPEX Spot, the responsibility of the exchange and of its participants. EPEX Spot carries out the spot price calculation for a central region within the European Power Market. While doing this, EPEX Spot is also actively involved in several market coupling projects with other exchanges and in close cooperation with the TSOs and regulators. The participants must make sure that their orders result from their portfolio strategy as well as from their analysis of the balance between supply and demand and of the opportunities and risks associated with higher price volatility in the areas of EPEX spot.
The Exchange Council is supportive of Market Coupling as a way to create larger pools of liquidity. In connection with this the Exchange Council has validated the principles governing the future modifications of the Exchange Rules to accommodate the CWE market coupling, with the introduction of so-called market coupling products which allow the bundled transactions on energy and cross-border capacity. These products and their functioning will have to remain consistent with external regulations applicable to the capacity owners (TSOs). The modifications of the Exchange Rules will be discussed at the next Exchange Council meeting.
The Exchange Council and the Exchange are determined to continue to implement the best practices in transparency and surveillance standards.
Furthermore, the Exchange Council debated on the development of the Intraday Market and noted that especially the German Intraday Market has recently strongly developed on ComXerv trading platform and has become the most liquid continuous Intraday Market in Europe today. EPEX Spot aims at further integration which provides German and French Intraday markets on the same system with a cross-border functionality. The capacities at the German borders are available through a TSO managed capacity platform with OTC cross-border access which might soon be expanded to other borders.
EPEX Spot SE is a Paris-based company under European law (Societas Europae). EEX and Powernext each hold 50 percent in the joint company, in which they integrated their entire spot power trading activities. The product range of EPEX Spot SE encompasses spot power trading for France, Germany/Austria and Switzerland. These countries account for more than one third of the European power consumption.