Energy is expensive and electricity is no exception. In recent days, the electricity price has again reached a new record level. Due to the high prices, the question is raised from various sides whether the current electricity market is still functioning.
The listing of electricity on the EPEX Spot has broken the €600 per MWh limit. Yesterday (Monday, August 29) the EPEX even rose to €630,06 per MWh. Although the quotation has fallen slightly today, at €607,45 per MWh, electricity is still exceptionally good at the price. Problems with the gas supply from Russia, technical and weather-related problems in France's nuclear power plants and droughts that hamper the transport of coal have pushed the price of electricity to unprecedented heights.
Europe's leading energy exchange, the EEX, announced in a statement on Monday that it will remain open despite unprecedented volatility in the energy market. The council of the stock exchange, in which the market participants are represented, decided on Monday not to suspend trading. “Stopping stock exchange trading would lead to a shift in trading, but it would not change the price trend and would actually create more uncertainty in general,” writes Steffen Koehler, COO of the EEX. However, the council warns that the extremely high prices could lead to hesitation among electricity sellers because of the liquidity requirements for trading on the futures market. After all, the positions must remain covered.
Emergency intervention
Meanwhile, the European Union is considering steps to reform the electricity market. “The skyrocketing electricity prices are now exposing the limitations of the current electricity market for several reasons,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a meeting on high energy prices yesterday. "It was developed under completely different circumstances and completely different purposes. That is why we are now working on an emergency intervention and structural reform of the electricity market." This includes the disconnection of gas and electricity prices. Furthermore, the introduction of maximum prices was discussed.