The European Energy Exchange (EEX) marks its 25th anniversary this year, with a total volume of 75,000+ terawatt hours of power traded since launch. Today the company is known as a global exchange for energy and commodities and has been recognised as the world’s largest power trading platform for almost a decade.
The very first trade was executed on 15 June 2000 at Leipzig Power Exchange, the predecessor of today’s EEX, at the time of a major transformation of the European energy landscape. In the late 1990s, the German electricity market was liberalised, ending local monopolies and opening up the market to new entrants which created the need for transparent and efficiently organised trading platforms, such as EEX.
25 years on, EEX is a globally active group of companies with over 1,200 employees across 25 locations, and with an annual trading volume of more than 12,000 terawatt hours, as reported for 2024. In addition to power contracts, the wider EEX Group now offers natural gas, emission allowances, freight, guarantees of origin and other commodity products, which are traded by 950+ participants from 42 countries. To underpin EEX Group’s commitment to its sustainability targets, it provides tailored contracts and services to facilitate the energy transition, the integration of renewables, as well as decarbonisation efforts.
Thomas Book, Chairman of the EEX Supervisory Board and member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Börse AG, comments: “Since its inception as a startup in 2000, EEX made a fantastic journey to becoming a globally leading energy market. We are very proud of the EEX team and their outstanding achievements. EEX not only made a significant contribution to the success of Deutsche Börse Group but also continues to drive transformation in global energy markets through reliable price discovery and strong risk management. We look forward to the next chapters in this journey of innovation and client focus to facilitate transformation in global energy markets."
Peter Reitz, CEO of EEX, comments: “EEX is a true success story. The trust we receive from our exchange participants, the cooperation with our customers and partners, the high level of commitment by our teams worldwide and the support of our shareholders have been decisive factors for our development over the past 25 years. The energy market is in constant change and so are the needs of trading participants. We will continue to develop and build our markets together with our customers and thus make our contribution to liquid, sustainable and secure trading.”
Discover more about EEX’s journey on the EEX website here.
