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Trading of 15-minute contracts will be extended to the continuous Intraday market in Austria as of 1 October 2015, subject to successful member testing. The Austrian transmission system operator (TSO) APG, its German counterparties Amprion, Tennet and TransnetBW, the European Power Exchange EPEX SPOT and its clearing house European Commodity Clearing (ECC) have closely cooperated on this extension in the recent months. Following the reduction of the cross-border intraday lead time to 60 minutes on the Austrian-German border by 16 July 2015, the introduction of 15-minute contracts in Austria becomes possible through the adaptation of scheduling and capacity systems by the Austrian and German TSOs. Right from the start, cross-border matching with German and Swiss 15-minute contracts is an integral part of the extension, so that these contracts now span across three countries.
“15-minute contracts have proven to be a key facilitator for the evolution European power markets face nowadays”, says Jean-François Conil-Lacoste, Chairman of the Management Board of EPEX SPOT. “Austrian market participants will benefit from this flexibility instrument, as well as from the instant cross-border liquidity with Germany and Switzerland.”
“In the current European context of growing challenges for more trading flexibility and integration of renewable energy, 15-minute contracts for cross-border trading between Austria and Germany as well as domestic trading in Austria provide an opportunity for Austrian market participants to optimise their positions closer to real time”, says Thomas Karall, Member of the Board of Austrian Power Grid.
15-minute contracts were first introduced in December 2011 on the German Intraday market and have since then been a success story. They were extended in June 2013 to Switzerland at the moment of the launch of the Swiss Intraday market, with the possibility to match these contracts across the German-Swiss border. Since December 2014, a complementary 15-minute call auction on the German Intraday market provides a clear cut price signal. Over 10 TWh have been traded in 15-minute contracts since launch, with a volume of well over 300 GWh per month in the recent months across all segments.
