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Glossary

A lot of technical terms and abbreviations are used in the world of power trading. Our Glossary explains their meaning.

A

ACER

Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators. ACER helps ensure the single European market in gas and electricity functions properly. It assists national regulatory authorities in performing their regulatory function at European level and, where necessary, coordinates their work. https://www.acer.europa.eu/en

Aggregated Curves

Are included in the aggregated curves hourly orders, executed blocks, the coupling volume, the last two elements being considered at any price.

All-or-None Orders

Limit orders that are executed for the entire quantity only and remain in the Order Book until they are filled.

Amicable Dispute Resolution Period

The period for amicable settlement, in accordance with article 11.2 of the MCFA, of disputes arising under or in connection with the MCFA, which shall not exceed two (2) months (or any other period as agreed upon between the Parties).

Applicant

Legal entity having submitted a Membership application to EPEX SPOT SE.

Ask Price

Price of a sell order.

Auction

Procedure for making transactions after a period of time during which the orders entered by exchange members in the order book are accumulated but not executed. The price determination algorithm aims at optimising the total welfare, i.e. the seller surplus, the buyer surplus and the congestion rent (if applicable).

Auction Office

Company managing interconnection capacity on behalf of one or several TSOs.

Available Interconnection Capacity

Available Interconnection Capacity means ATC for ATC Based Market Coupling and remaining margin on critical branches for flow-based Market Coupling.

Available Transfer Capacity (ATC)

Part of the day-ahead NTC (i.e. the maximum cross border exchanges between hubs compatible with security standards applicable in both hubs and taking into account the technical uncertainties on future network conditions) made available in accordance with the Agreement concluded between all the parties involved in the concerned Market Coupling for Coupled Markets. For the avoidance of doubt, ATC are also equal to the maximum amount of PTRs.

B

Balance Responsible Agreement

All contractual agreements between the transmission system operator and the grid user regarding the settlement of power imbalances recorded on balance perimeters.

Balance Responsible Party

Legal entity obligated to pay a TSO for the after-the-fact Imbalances of a grid-user coming within the Balance Responsible’s Perimeter.

Balance Responsible Perimeter

Energy account which the transmission system operator keeps for every user of the system. This system is in accordance with a balance area agreement. In the account feeding, withdrawals and the transfer of energy to other balance areas (schedule) are booked in order to establish the deviation in the energy balance of every user.

Balancing Market

Market managed by TSOs in order to guarantee the availability of power reserves in D-1 and Intraday to ensure global supply-demand balance in real time.

Baseload

Characterises the type of load for the delivery of electricity or the procurement of electricity with a constant output over 24 hours of each day of the delivery period.

Bid

Electronic document by which the Exchange Member submits the Price and the quantity for which it seeks to make a Transaction in a Contract.

Bid price

Price of a buying order.

Block Order

Combination of single hours which depend on each other for their execution. On the auction, all block orders can only be either executed fully, or rejected fully.

Bundeskartellamt (BKartA)

The Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office) is an independent competition authority whose task is to protect competition in Germany.

Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA)

The Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency) is a German authority whose task is to provide, by liberalisation and deregulation, for the further development of networks and markets as is the case of electricity. The Agency has rights of information and investigation as well as the right to impose graded sanctions.

Buyer Surplus

Difference between the submitted price and the market price, multiplied by the quantity actually purchased.

C

Central West Europe

Region encompassing the power spot markets of France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg, which are coupled since 9 November 2010.

Clearing

Financial and physical settlement of transactions.

Clearing Conditions

Document issued by ECC, describing the settlement and collateralisation of transactions. Clearing conditions are binding for all Clearing Members and Non-Clearing Members.

Clearing House

An institution which acts as a central counterparty for transactions (CCP). The clearing house organises the accounting of receivables and liabilities, the delivery and the collateralisation of the transactions.

Clearing Member

Participant in the clearing procedure endowed with a clearing license.

Code of Conduct

The Code of Conduct sets forth the rules of conduct and market behaviour which must be respected at all times by the Exchange Members.

Commission de Régulation de l'Energie (CRE)

Independent administrative body in charge of regulating the French electricity and gas markets.

Congestion Rent

Price difference between two markets linked by market coupling arising when there is congestion on the border.

Continuous Trading

Unlike in an auction, orders may be executed as soon as they are placed in the order book. Competing orders in the order book are prioritised firstly by their price and then by their time stamp.

Contract

Commercial contracts traded on EPEX SPOT, which specifications and parameters are described in the Operational Rules.

Coupled Markets

Price or Volume Coupled Markets.

Cross Trades

A Transaction where an Exchange Member is both on the buy and the sell side for the same product.

Curtailment

Imbalance of purchase and sale leading to extreme prices on the Auction Segment.

D

Danish Utility Regulator (DUR)

Forsyningstilsynet - Regulates the utility sector in Denmark. The Danish Utility Regulator’s purpose is securing consumer interests in the utility sectors by striving for a higher level of efficiency, the lowest possible costs in the short and long term, a stable and secure supply, and a cost-effective development in technology and climate-friendly initiatives.

Day-Ahead Market

Part of the spot market where a commodity is tradable one day before delivery.

Delivery

The physical fulfillment of transactions is called delivery.

Delivery Area

Power transportation grid managed by a TSO.

Delivery Day

Day on which the Contracts negotiated on EPEX SPOT area to be delivered.

Designated Broker

Type of Trading Member which trades on behalf of another Trading Member.

E

E-Control

As the Austrian independent regulation authority, E-Control is responsible for drawing up and enforcing market rules. Its job is to strengthen competition and to ensure that this does not compromise security of supply and sustainability.

ECC

European Commodity Clearing AG. Central counterparty for all transactions effected on EPEX SPOT.

Eidgenössische Elektrizitätskommission (ElCom)

ElCom is Switzerland’s independent regulatory authority in the electricity sector. ElCom monitors electricity prices as well as electricity supply security and regulates issues relating to international electricity transmission and trading.

ELIX

European Electricity Index. ELIX is calculated daily, based on the order books of the three EPEX SPOT markets – which account for 40% of the European power consumption – under the assumption of no congestions between the countries.

EMCC

European Market Coupling Company GmbH with registered offices in Hamburg. Auction Office for the Volume Coupling between Denmark and Germany.

Energiavirasto

The Finnish Energy Authority. It regulates and promotes the operation of the electricity and gas markets, emission reductions, energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy.

Energimarknadsinspektionen (EI)

The Swedish Energy Markets Inspectorate (Ei) is an authority which is commissioned to strive for well-functioning energy markets.

EPEX Trading System (ETS)

Electronic system operated by EPEX SPOT that allows exchange members to trade on EPEX SPOT Market Segments. The EPEX Trading System is used for auction trading on the Day-Ahead and Intraday markets.

Exchange

Electronic platform on which the Contracts tradable on EPEX SPOT can be negotiated.

Exchange Council

One of the Exchange Bodies of EPEX SPOT, as described in the Exchange Rules.

Exchange Member

Legal entity that has signed a Trading Agreement with EPEX SPOT SE.

Exchange Rules

Part of the Rules and Regulations of EPEX SPOT that sets forth the terms on which EPEX SPOT SE carries out its duties and on which Exchange Members trade in the market.

Exchange Trader

Person authorised to trade in the name of an Exchange Member.

Expiry

Delivery period of a contract. Depending on the specifications, its duration can be individual hour or 15 minutes.

F

Future-to-Spot (FTS) Service (formerly Physical Fulfilment)

Trading participants active on both EEX and EPEX SPOT markets can enter bids in the corresponding Day-Ahead auction according to the participants' respective position in an EEX power futures contract. The creation and forwarding of the required bidding sheets can be done automatically by EEX or manually via the Trading Participant.

Futures Contract

Standardized contract between two parties to buy or sell a specified asset of standardized quantity and quality at a specified future date at a price agreed today.

G

General Service Condition

Legal conditions under which EPEX SPOT SE provides its services to the Exchange Members.

H

Hardship

Any extraordinary event or any extraordinary change of circumstances that is (i) independent of the will of the affected Party(ies); (ii) beyond the control of the affected Party(ies); (iii) unforeseeable at the time of conclusion of the concerned agreement, and (iv) which fundamentally and negatively affects for a substantial period of time, for the concerned Party(ies), the initial contractual equilibrium of the concerned agreement.

I

Iceberg Order

Buy or sell order which is specified by means of its limit, total quantity and peak quantity. The Iceberg Order is placed in the order book in partial orders to the amount of the peak quantity. As soon as a partial order has been executed, a new partial order to the amount of the peak quantity is placed in the order book. This process is repeated until the total quantity of the Iceberg Order is executed.

Imbalance

Difference, within the Perimeter of the Balance Responsible, between the total quantities of power injected and the total power quantities withdrawn, including all quantities resulting from Transactions made on EPEX SPOT.

Imbalances Settlement

Balance responsible parties are held financially liable ex post of any imbalance registered within their balance perimeter.

Implicit / Explicit

An auction is called implicit, if market price calculation and cross-border capacities are calculated simultaneously. If cross-border capacities are determinated separately by the TSOs, it is called explicit.

Initial Margining

Cash or securities which the Clearing Member has to deposit with the clearing house and which the Non-Clearing Member has to deposit with its Clearing Member. The initial margin covers the intra-day risk from spot market transactions on power.

Injection

Power produced or declared to the TSO and included as a positive figure in the calculation of the Balance Responsible Imbalance.

Interconnection Capacity

Cross-border electric energy transfer capacity on the interconnections.

Intraday Margin

Additional margin which has to be deposited in the course of an exchange trading day in highly volatile market situations.

Intraday Market

Part of the spot market where the commodity is tradable up to 30 minutes before physical fulfilment.

L

Limit Order

Buy or sell order which is entered with a position limit; it is executed at this limit or at a better limit.

M

M7

Electronic system operated by EPEX SPOT that allows exchange members to trade on EPEX SPOT Market Segments. M7 is used for the Intraday continuous market.

Market Area

An area comprising one or several Delivery Areas.

Market Clearing Price

Synonym for auction price. The market clearing price corresponds to the intersection between the aggregated supply and demand curve.

Market Coupling

Market coupling allows the matching of power exchanges orders and the implicit allocation of the available cross-border capacities received from the Transmission System Operators (TSOs).

Market Coupling Contracts (MCC)

Market Coupling Contracts are listed for the purpose of Price Coupling. The commodity underlying the Market Coupling Contracts is the Physical Transmission Right (PTR). The PTR is delivered under the form of specified PTRs which correspond to the specification of the executed PTRs on each electrical border by the Market Coupling Facilitator.

Market Coupling Facilitator

The entity signing the Market Coupling Facilitator Agreement.

Market Coupling Facilitator Agreement

The agreement to be signed by EPEX SPOT SE, and the Market Coupling Facilitator.

Market Notice / Notice

Document issued by EPEX SPOT to communicate with Exchange Members.

Market Surveillance Office

Independent Exchange Body, as described in the Exchange Rules.

Matching

Combination of two compatible opposite orders that leads to a Transaction.

MCP

Abbreviation for market clearing price.

MCV

Abbreviation for market clearing volume.

Mistrade

A transaction which was effected as a result of a mistake.

N

Nomination

Daily declaration of power supply, of purchase and sale or of imports and exports made to the TSO by the Balance Responsible Party. Physical delivery of transactions is fulfilled by means of reporting schedules/nominations to the TSO.

Non-Clearing Member

Exchange member which has concluded a “NCM agreement” with a clearing member and is approved as a trading participant by ECC.

Nordics

The Nordic countries encompass Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Norges vassdrags- og energidirektorat (NVE)

The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate is a directorate under the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy of Norway.

O

Operational Rules

Part of the Rules and Regulations of EPEX SPOT that sets forth the Contracts details and trading parameters, General Services Conditions, Price List and Technical Access Rules.

Operator (TSO)

Shortcut for Transmission System Operator, operating the power transportation grid of a given Delivery Area.

Order

Electronic document by which the Exchange Member submits the Price and the quantity for which it seeks to make a Transaction in a Contract.

Order Book

Centralisation by the Trading System of buy and sell Orders and ranking based on the execution priority determined by the matching algorithm.

OTC

Abbreviation for "Over-The-Counter". An OTC contract is a bilateral contract in which two parties agree on how a particular trade or agreement is to be settled in the future.

OTC Clearing

Service offered by exchanges. OTC transactions which correspond in their contract specification to exchange transactions can be registered. In this case clearing and settlement of the OTC transactions will be done by the respective clearing house.

P

Partial Market Area

A group of one or several Delivery Areas belonging to a Market Area.

Payment

Obligation to pay resulting from a Transaction on EPEX SPOT.

Peakload

Characterizes the load type for the delivery or procurement of electricity at a constant load over 12 hours from 08:00 am until 08:00 pm on every working day (Monday to Friday) during a delivery period.

PHELIX

Physical Electricity Index. Calculated on a daily basis by EPEX SPOT, the Phelix is the average price for base load (Phelix Day Base) and peak load (Phelix Day Peak) electricity traded on the German/Austrian Auction.

Physical Power Contract

A contract whose underlying is the electrical power transiting over a Transmission System managed by a TSO, which defines the voltage, frequency, cosine φ (displacement factor) and cut-off frequencies, in compliance with the contractual obligations of the prevailing concession agreement for the general power grid. The delivery of such contract happens at any Injection or Withdrawal point on the relevant Transmission System.

Physical Trasnmission Rights (PTR)

The right under ATC based Market Coupling to use a specified quantity of the Available Interconnection Capacity in the export direction, expressed in MW for each hourly period of a given day. In the framework of ATC based Market Coupling, the PTR is granted to ECC through the execution of Market Coupling Contracts. For the avoidance of doubt, the PTRs are inferior or equal to the Available Transfer Capacity under the ATC Market Coupling.

Power Transmission Network

Very high voltage grid managed by a TSO.

Pre-Arranged Trades

Transactions which shall be concluded according to a prior arrangement between two Exchange Members by entering consecutive Orders with opposite limits in continuous trading which are executed against each other.

Price Coupled Markets

Exchanges operating Price Coupling in coordination with EPEX SPOT.

Price Coupling

Price coupling between different countries allows creating a single exchange zone – and consequently single price zones when interconnection capacities do not limit cross-border power exchanges. It contributes to improve the market liquidity and participates in the creation of a single European electricity market.

Price Inelastic Bids

Orders to be executed whatever the market price.

Price List

Set of fees payable by Exchange Members upon trading on EPEX SPOT, as described in the Operational Rules.

R

REMIT

Regulation on Energy Market Integrity and Transparency. It is a proposal by the EU Commission of a harmonised EU-wide regulation of energy markets.

Resilience

The resiliency prices are calculated by adding a specific quantity of purchase/sale order to the order book of the day-ahead auction markets.

Rules and Regulations

Set of documents issued by EPEX SPOT SE, comprising the Trading Agreement or the Market Coupling Facilitator Agreement (for Market Coupling Facilitator only), the Exchange Rules, the Operational Rules and the Code of Conduct and governing the organisation of EPEX SPOT.

S

Schedule

Daily declaration of power supply, of purchase and sale or of imports and exports made to the TSO by the Balance Responsible Party. Physical delivery of transactions is fulfilled by means of reporting schedules/nominations to the TSO.

Segment / Market Segment

Describes the modality of trading in the sense of closed or open Auction, Intraday trading and Continuous Trading for each Market Area.

Seller Surplus

Difference between the submitted price and the market price, multiplied by the quantity actually sold.

Settlement

Payment of Transactions executed on EPEX SPOT and handled by the Clearing House.

Single Contract Order

Order relating to a contract with one Expiry.

Spot Market

Market on which transactions regarding products are concluded and/or registered which are settled within a period of two settlement days. Settlement can take place immediately (Intraday), the following day (Day-Ahead) or two days ahead.

Spread

The price range between best bid and best ask is called spread.

T

Technical Access Rules

Rules pertaining to the configuration and installation of Trading Systems.

TRACFIN

The “Traitement du renseignement et action contre les circuits financiers clandestins”, TRACFIN, is a service of the French Ministry of Finances. It fights money laundering.

Trade

Outcome of the matching of buy and sell orders.

Trader's Exam

Examination leading to the qualification as an Exchange Trader on EPEX SPOT.

Trading Account

Username and password giving access to the Trading Systems.

Trading Agreement

Contract between the Exchange Member and EPEX SPOT SE whereby the Exchange Members accepts to comply with the Rules and Regulations of EPEX SPOT SE.

Trading Member

Category of Exchange Member described in the Exchange Rules which is authorised to trade on EPEX SPOT.

Trading Member with a Special Task

An external entity, which has to take part in the optimisation of cross-border trading in power between separate power markets (Volume Coupling).

Trading Participant

Company which is approved as a Trading Participant according to the ECC Clearing Conditions.

Trading Procedure

Auction Trading or Continuous Trading.

Trading System

Electronic system operated by EPEX SPOT SE that allows Exchange Members to trade on EPEX SPOT Market Segments.

Transaction / Trade

Contract agreed on EPEX SPOT for which the procedures and specifications are defined in the Rules and Regulations.

Transmission System Operator (TSO)

Entity in charge of operating the power transportation grid of a given delivery area.

V

Volatility

Volatility is a measure of the price fluctuations in the course of one day. The additional margin parameter and the spread margin parameter can then be determined on the basis of volatility.

Volume Coupled Markets

Exchanges operating Volume Coupling in coordination with EPEX SPOT.

Volume Coupling

Coordinated day-ahead Auction involving two or more power markets. Cross-border volumes computed by an Auction Office are transferred to the exchanges which consider them as price acceptant bids into their local system. The exchanges thus locally calculate their prices on their own in a second step.

W

Withdrawal

Power consumed or declared to the TSO and included as a negative figure in the calculation of the Balance Responsible Imbalance.