EEX Group Announce Significant Growth Rates For The First Half Of 2015 - Power And Gas Markets Generate Impressive Growth Compared To The Previous Year – Further Expansion Of Market Shares

In the first half of 2015, the European Energy Exchange (EEX) successfully continued its growth trajectory. Overall, the volume on the EEX Group power markets increased from 819 TWh to 1,401 TWh , resulting in a 71 % increase.

 On the EEX Power Derivatives Market, a volume of 1,184.6 tera-watt hours (TWh) was traded from January to June 2015. As a result, the volume almost doubled in comparison to the first half of 2014. The Phelix Future accounted for a volume of 860.2 TWh (+ 51 % as against the same period in 2014). EEX also generated major volume increases in trading in Italian (+ 439 %) and French (+ 532 %) power futures.

As a result, EEX was able to further expand its market share on the Power Derivatives Market. From January to June 2015, the average EEX market share in the overall German derivatives market was 30 % (first half of 2014: 23 %). In the French market area, EEX’s market share rose to 21 % (first half of 2014: 6 %). With a 45 % share, almost half of the total volume on the Italian power market was traded through EEX (first half of 2014: 9 %). These values were established on the basis of the figures published every month by the exchanges of the London Brokers Association (LEBA).

Steffen Köhler, Chief Operating Officer of EEX, explains: “In the first half of the year, we expanded our offering on the Power Derivatives Market with numerous new products. These included new location spreads, futures for further market areas and the introduction of short-term maturities (Day and Weekend Futures) also on the Italian, French and Spanish markets. Our growing market share clearly demonstrates that through these steps, we are fulfilling our clients’ expectations and have further strengthened our leading position on the exchange derivatives market.”

EPEX SPOT also generated significant growth on the Power Spot Markets. In the first half of 2015, a volume of 216.7 TWh was traded, constituting a growth rate of 16 % compared to the first half of 2014 (186.6 TWh). Day-ahead trading accounted for 195.9 TWh (+ 14 %), while intraday trading accounted for 20.8 TWh (+43 %). In addition, a volume of 20.8 TWh was traded on the power spot market of APX (incl. Belpex, trading period: 4 May to 30 June 2015), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of EPEX SPOT since 4 May 2015.

The natural gas markets on the PEGAS trading platform, which is operated by Powernext, a member of EEX Group, also continued the positive trend. Overall, a volume of 435.4 TWh (previous year: 248.4 TWh) was traded in the first half of the year. In this respect, the volume traded on the Natural Gas Spot Market rose to 225.1 TWh by 81 % (1st half of 2014: 124.6 TWh). On the Derivatives Market, the volume rose to 210.3 TWh by 70 % (1st half of 2014: 123.8 TWh).

On the market for CO2 emission allowances, EEX recorded volumes which declined overall in the first half of 2015 compared with the same period in 2014. However, at 296.7 million tonnes, the volume generated in the primary market auctions was slightly higher than in the previous year (288.7 million tonnes CO2). On the secondary market, a total of 18.5 million tonnes CO2 was traded (1st half of 2014: 36.1 million tonnes CO2). In April 2015, EEX revised its offering for the secondary market and, as a result, significantly increased volumes in the second quarter of 2015: While, in the first quarter, a volume of 4.4 million tonnes of CO2 was traded on the secondary market, this volume rose to 14.2 million tonnes of CO2 in the second quarter.

Additionally, at the end of the first half of the year, trading in agricultural futures was launched on EEX. Since the launch on 11 May 2015, 11,992 contracts in total have been traded until the end of June (same period in 2014: 5,734 contracts).

“We will continue to expand our offering for our customers in the second half of the year”, explained Steffen Köhler. “With the Cap Futures, we will, for example, introduce a completely new product on the Derivatives Market which will enable our participants to hedge price peaks on the Intraday Market and to have more flexible trading instruments.”

The volumes in the core markets of EEX Group developed as follows:

*Without consideration of APX (incl. Belpex) spot market volume