EXAA (Abwicklungsstelle für Energieprodukte AG) is an electronic marketplace for energy trading in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands. As the Austrian Energy Exchange, it is active in the Austrian APG control area, the Dutch TenneT control area as well as in all four German control areas (Amprion, TenneT, TransnetBW, 50Hertz). The neutrality of an energy exchange, the guaranteed anonymity of bids and the financial security of transactions make a significant contribution to promoting fairness throughout the market. Currently, two day-ahead auctions per day (an independent auction at 10:15 and a market-coupling auction at 12:00) are offered at EXAA, with different clearing prices per product and delivery day.
Since January 2009, EXAA has been offering training courses on electricity and gas trading under the brand name teem – training for energy and environmental markets.
What are the main areas of activity of the company?
Offering day-ahead auctions for power in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and in 2025 also France and Belgium.
What’s the news about new products/services?
In June 2024, EXAAs 10:15 auction expanded to the Netherlands.
Go Live of EXAAs 10:15 auctions in France and Belgium in 2025.
Go Live of 12:00 MC auction in the new countries (NL, FR, BE) in 2025.
What are the ranges of products/services?
In principle, all 24 hours of a day can be traded individually on the Austrian energy exchange. In addition to the standard block products (the combination of several hours into a common block) base, peak and off-peak, further special block products have been introduced in order to meet the specific needs of market participants (see figure). Besides single-hour products and block products, all 96 quarter hours of a day can be traded at the EXAA in the independent 10:15 day-ahead auction.
What is the state of the market where you are currently active?
Daily average traded volume (Buy+Sell) in 10:15 auction: 15.928 MWh
Daily average traded volume (Buy+Sell) in 12:00 auction: 86.604 MWh
What can you tell us about market trends?
Increasing share of renewable energy will lead to more volatility in the markets which will ultimately be reflected in the prices on exchanges. It is likely that the occurrence of negative prices will be getting higher in the next years. The impact of this and the possible storage solutions will be interesting factors in the power market for the next years.
What are the most innovative products/services marketed?
On March 5, 2019, EXAA successfully expanded its product line by introducing physical location spreads that allow a virtual coupling of the two price zones of Austria and Germany. In addition to their bids for blocks, hours and quarter hours, traders can also use a new spread editor to place bids on the price difference between Austria and Germany and buy or sell this spread with or without a limit. If a spread bid is accepted at the auction, a quantity of the same amount is bought in one price zone and simultaneously sold in the other price zone. The price of the spread is determined by the simultaneous auctions in the Austrian market area and the German market area, taking into account the entire order books. The spread is physically settled in the respective market area. In addition to the location spread, another trading product was introduced at EXAA in 2022: the cross-auction spread. It can be used to profit from price differences between the EXAA 10:15 auction and the 12:00 MC auction as a part of portfolio optimization.
What estimations do you have for 2024?
We see a higher interest from traders who are looking for optimization opportunities. With the geographical expansion to new markets like France and Belgium EXAA will be offering its innovative spread products also for the new markets, offering traders even more trading opportunities in the day-ahead power market.