ABOUT THE COOPERATION
The starting point for the development of power exchanges was the liberalisation of the European energy markets initiated in 1996. The main objectives of the EU were the security of supply and competitive prices. In the long term, the decision to open up Europe’s gas and electricity markets aimed at the creation of a single European electricity market.
Since 1996, several power exchanges have been established in Europe. By establishing reliable reference prices and creating a ‘level playing field’ for trading, they have become a key requirement for functioning markets. Today, there are about 20 organized markets in Europe and competition among these market places and upcoming market initiatives has increased significantly.
While it is advantageous for final consumers to have many power suppliers to choose from, a cooperation of the trading platforms is desirable on the wholesale level in the interest of a uniform European single market. In the light of the EU vision, the cooperation between the energy exchanges EEX, based in Germany, and Powernext SA, based in France, is a decisive step towards an integrated European electricity market.
Key aspects of the cooperation
- Common Power Spot Exchange based in Paris
- Common Power Derivatives Exchange based in Leipzig
- Clearing of all spot and derivatives energy products through European Commodity Clearing AG (ECC) based in Leipzig
Benefits of the cooperation
Geographically, the cooperation includes Germany, France, Austria and Switzerland, which together cover more than one third of the European consumption of electricity. The process for market coupling launched last year for an improved management of transmission system bottlenecks in Central Western Europe (the Benelux, Germany and France) is facilitated and continued to a significant degree through the cooperation between the two exchanges.
Market participants will benefit from:
- Transparent and reliable wholesale price formation mechanism
- Centralised and increased liquidity
- Standardisation and harmonisation of the trading and clearing processes (incl. admission process, trading fees, trading system)
- Best practice in transparency and surveillance standards
- Highly effective clearing and risk management services
- More effective governance and implementation of Market Coupling / Splitting projects.
Structure of the EEX-Powernext cooperation:
