EPEX SPOT: Power Trading Results In July 2014 - French Day-Ahead Awakens - One Year, One Terawatt Hour: The Success Story Of The Swiss Intraday Market

In July 2014, a total volume of 30.9 TWh was traded on EPEX SPOT’s Day-Ahead and Intraday markets (July 2013: 29.8 TWh). The volume on the French Day-Ahead market marked a new record with 5,959,611 MWh of traded volume. This is a 5% increase from the previous record in February 2013 (5,673,213 MWh). The upsurge is due to several factors, such as an increase in hydro (+2%) and nuclear power production (+%9) compared to July 2013. At the same time, the usual weak demand in July was lower (-3%) compared to one year earlier. As a result, France exported significantly more electricity (+39% compared to July 2013).

Day-Ahead markets
In July 2014, power trading on the Day-Ahead auctions on EPEX SPOT accounted for a total of 28,339,396 MWh (July 2013: 27,759,196 MWh) and can be broken down as follows:

* Peak excl. weekend

Prices within the German and the French market, both coupled within the Multi-Regional Coupling, converged 35% of the time.

Intraday markets
On the EPEX SPOT Intraday markets , a total volume of 2,515,395 MWh was traded in July 2014 (July 2013: 2,020,511 MWh).

In July, cross-border trades represented 17.1% of the total Intraday volume. The volume in 15-minute contracts on the German and Swiss Intraday markets reached another all-time high and climbed to 475,655 MWh. It is a 6% increase from the previous record in June 2014 (449,494 MWh). In June, they represented 20.7% – more than one fifth – of the volume traded on the German and Swiss Intraday markets.

One year, one terawatt hour: During the first 365 days after the launch of the Swiss Intraday market on 26 June 2013, 976,241 MWh have been traded, which corresponds to 5% of the total Swiss volumes traded on the spot Exchange. 86.8% of all transactions were concluded across borders. This is a peak value which illustrates well the economic advantages of European power market integration. With the start of the Swiss Intraday market, 15-minute contracts were also launched in Switzerland, with the possibility to trade across borders with the German 15-minute market. With a yearly traded volume of 44,145 MWh or a share of 4.5% of the total Intraday volume, 15-minute contracts have made a precious contribution to the short-term intra-hour adjustment of supply and demand. Furthermore, the Swiss Intraday saw a new record volume in July. The Swiss Intraday market is a real success story and joins the ranks of the most liquid European Intraday markets.