Bogdan Tudorache
Electricity reached a new historical minimum on the local OPCOM market, of 1 leu per MWh, in the intrerval of 23-24.00 h and 24.00 h (November 30) – 01.00 h (December 1), on the day-ahead market (DAM-PZU) according to market operator data.
The intraday energy market in Romania was coupled on November 19 with similar markets in 20 other European countries, which led to lower prices at record-low levels of 1 leu per MWh for the 24-1.00 hour range on the 22nd of November, and of 50 lei per MWh for the time intervals 22-23-24.00, according to the segment for the next day (PZU) of OPCOM, consulted by energynomics.ro.
The newly coupled markets are Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. “This means that all traders in Romania will have the same trading tools as in the other 20 European countries and there is the possibility to carry out cross-border energy transactions. This is a step that proves our determination to be on the European market. energy, on the most efficient platforms and with European rules. It is a very complex process and a great challenge for us,” said Victor Ionescu, general manager of OPCOM, for Agerpres.
Coupling intraday markets means that virtually all traders in the coupled countries use the same trading platform, which offers complete transparency on the prices and volumes traded.
For Romania, the connection of intraday markets creates new opportunities for development of both the electricity market and of generation for the renewable energy sector by trading almost at the moment of the delivery of the produced energy. “The aim of the initiative is to increase the overall efficiency of trading on the intraday time horizon,” Transelectrica said in a press release, “which contributes to increasing the security of supply and better use of electricity generation resources”.
Experts anticipate that the development of the regional intraday market will reduce the share of the balancing market and ensure lower prices for market operators, as well as for the final consumers.
The first deliveries of electricity in the second wave of the unique European solution for intranet markets (SIDC), launched on November 19, took place successfully on Wednesday, November 20, 2019. With the implementation of this project, seven more countries have will join the fourteen that have been already operating in coupled regime. Another important step towards expanding the integrated European single market, the continuous trading of electricity has been thus expanded in the following countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovenia. They join the already operational SIDC countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Holland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. A new wave is expected by the end of 2020, when the Sweden / Poland border will join the initiative.