First trades in Slovenian, Bulgarian power futures registered

The European Energy Exchange (EEX) has registered the first trade in Slovenian power futures, as well as the first trade in Bulgarian power futures, according to news releases from BSP SouthPool Energy Exchange, the Slovenian power exchange, and the Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange (IBEX).

The EEX launched Slovenian, Bulgarian, and Serbian power futures on June 3 and the first trades in Slovenian and Bulgarian futures were registered on June 14.

The product offering includes cash-settled power futures for Slovenia covering base and peak load products with weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly maturities, the EEX said earlier, also announcing cash-settled Bulgarian and Serbian base load products with the same maturities.

Yearly Slovenian power futures, for 2020, were traded at EUR 57.80 per MWh, BSP SouthPool said. An overview of all products and trades is available at EEX Market Data.

For its part, IBEX said that the trade was for a monthly product July 2019, adding that the financial settlement is based on the clearing price of the Bulgarian day-ahead market operated by IBEX.

Power futures help increase business predictability

Buying power futures helps control expenses on electricity, contributing to business predictability, according to participants in a workshop organized by the EEX and SEEPEX, the Serbian power exchange, in late May to promote the launch of the Serbian power futures.

Financial derivatives help all market participants manage risk, which is particularly important for the electricity market due to major price volatility, said SEEPEX Executive Director Miloš Mladenović, recalling that SEEPEX has so far only offered the day-ahead benchmark price, while it will now be able to offer benchmark prices for contracts up to six years ahead.

He also said that futures trading requires a stable and robust spot price, noting that SEEPEX has registered strong results in terms of trade volume and participant number over the past period.