EPEX SPOT
| EPEX SPOT SE | |
 | |
| Type | Physical commodity exchange (energy) |
|---|---|
| Location | Paris, France |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Key people | Jean-François Conil-Lacoste (CEO), Thierry Morello (COO), Jeroen van den Heuvel (CFO), Tobias Paulun (Director) |
| Currency | EUR |
| Commodities | Electric power |
| Volume | 382 TWh (2014) |
| Website | www.epexspot.com |
The European Power Exchange SE (EPEX SPOT SE) is an exchange for power spot trading in Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg. EPEX SPOT is 100 percent owner of APX Group, which operates the power spot markets in Belgium, the Netherland and the United Kingdom.
Overview
EPEX SPOT SE is a company under European law based in Paris (France) with offices in Leipzig (Germany), Vienna (Austria) and Bern (Switzerland). It operates the power spot markets for short-term trading in power in Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg, with Germany, Austria and Luxembourg forming one price zone. Since 4 May 2015, EPEX SPOT is 100 percent owner of APX Group, which operates the power spot markets in Belgium (through Belpex), the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. EPEX SPOT was founded in 2008 by the merger of the power spot markets of the energy exchanges Powernext and European Energy Exchange (EEX AG). Today, EPEX SPOT is held by EEX Group (51%) and Transmission System Operators. The transmission system operators are organized in the holding HGRT composed of RTE, Elia and TenneT, which holds a share of 49% in EPEX SPOT.[1]
EPEX SPOT is one of the stakeholders in the Multi-Regional Coupling which currently connects markets representing 85% of the European power consumption.[2] EPEX SPOT also operates the Hungarian market on behalf of the Hungarian Power Exchange HUPX. Moreover, EPEX SPOT provides price coupling services for three of the four power exchanges of the 4M Market Coupling covering the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania.[3] EPEX SPOT counts over 220 members[4] and about 100 employees.[5]
Governance
EPEX SPOT SE is a company with a two-tier governance system. The shareholders appoint a Supervisory Board, composed of actors of the European energy sector, which elects the Management Board and approves the strategy of the company. The Supervisory Board supports EPEX SPOT’s work on the integration of the European power market and takes into account the increasing number of collaborations of European and international scale.[6] An Exchange Council composed of market participants has been put in place as an independent body in order to ensure state of the art governance rules. 22 members and 4 permanent guests meeting up quarterly represent adequately the diversity of economic and corporate profiles that exists among the Exchange Members from various sectors.[7] EPEX SPOT, organizing the Swiss Day Ahead and Intraday Market, holds a 100% subsidiary in Switzerland, EPEX SPOT Schweiz AG.
Trading
In 2014 the volume of traded electricity on the markets of EPEX SPOT amounted to 382 terawatt hours (TWh), an increase of 10% over the previous year.[8]
Day-ahead markets
EPEX SPOT operates day-ahead power markets for France, Germany/Austria/Luxembourg and Switzerland. These day-ahead markets are organized by an auction process, matching once a day supply and demand curves and thus fixing prices in an anonymous, yet transparent and secured manner. Members of the Exchange enter their orders for hourly quantities of power into the order book which is closed on 11 am for Switzerland and on 12 pm for all other markets. EPEX SPOT calculates the offer and demand curves and their intersection for each hour of the following day. Results are published from 11.10 am (Switzerland) and 12.55 pm (all other markets) on. The price index for the German/Austrian/Luxembourg market is called the Physical Electricity Index, or PHELIX, and is a reference for power wholesale prices in Europe by virtue of its underlying liquidity. Indirectly, EPEX SPOT operates the day-ahead power markets for Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK.
Market Coupling
The Belgian, Dutch, German/Austrian/Luxembourg, French and British day-ahead auctions are part of the Multi-Regional Coupling. It links the markets of Austria, Benelux, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, the Nordic and the Baltic countries by a price coupling solution in order to optimize the use of cross-border capacities between these countries, increasing the gains in social welfare on all markets.
Intraday markets
EPEX SPOT also operates intraday power markets for Germany/Luxembourg, France, Austria and Switzerland. The intraday markets are organized by continuous trading – orders of the members are entered perpetually into the order book. As soon as two orders are compatible, they are executed. Contracts for hourly quantities of power can be traded up to 30 minutes before physical fulfillment. In Switzerland and across borders, trade is possible until 60 minutes before delivery.[9] Since 14 December 2010, members can conclude cross-border trades between the intraday markets of Germany/Luxembourg and France. The commodities trading system used by EPEX SPOT, M7 (ComXerv), allows simultaneous cross-border trades on the Exchange and via OTC by connecting to the capacity platform maintained by the Transmission System Operators. With the launch of the Austrian intraday market in October 2012, cross-border transactions were expanded to Austria. Switzerland followed in June 2013. Through its 100 percent stake in APX Group, EPEX SPOT additionally operates the intraday power markets for Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK.
15-minute contracts
In December 2011, EPEX SPOT introduced 15-minute contracts on the continuous intraday market in Germany. These contracts facilitate trading with intermittent power sources and help dealing with intra-hour variations in production and consumption. With the launch of the intraday market in Switzerland, 15-minute contracts were extended to this market, including cross-border trading. In December 2014, EPEX SPOT launched a call auction for 15-minute contracts on the German intraday market in order to provide a reliable price signal on a quarter-hour basis. This auction at 3 pm provides at tool for balance responsible parties to fine-tune their portfolios on a 15-minute basis during production ramps and forecast deviations. In so doing, the price signal of 15-minute contracts contributes to the added value of flexibility and provides at the same time incentives for system stabilization.[10] [11]
Integration with APX Group
In April 2015, EPEX SPOT and APX Group announced the integration of their businesses in order to form a Power Exchange for Central Western Europe (CWE, encompassing Austria, Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland) and the UK. The integration of EPEX SPOT and APX Group reduces barriers in power trading in the CWE and UK region. Market participants shall benefit from harmonized trading systems, one single rulebook and one admission process for the entire region, therefore reducing trading costs and lowering entry barriers for new participants. Moreover, they will have access to a wider range of products and benefit from best-of-both standards and reliable customer support. Overall, the integration will lead to a more effective governance and further facilitates the creation of a single European power market fully in line with the objectives of the European electricity regulatory framework.[12]
External links
References
- ↑ , About the shareholders
- ↑ , Press release 24.02.2015
- ↑ , 4M Market Coupling Extended High Level Market Design
- ↑ , List of EPEX SPOT Exchange members
- ↑ , DFBEE (2015)
- ↑ , Supervisory Board
- ↑ , Exchange Council
- ↑ , Press release 13.01.2015
- ↑ , Press release 16.06.2015
- ↑ , Call auction for 15-minute contracts
- ↑ , Bundesnetzagentur/Bundeskartellamt (2014): Monitoringbericht 2014. Page 19.
- ↑ , Press release 17.04.2015