| ©ICIS HEREN - Bulgaria mulls launching Day-ahead power exchange |
| 2010-04-12 |
| Bulgaria is considering introducing a Day-ahead power trading platform, or link to a regional exchange, in a bid to boost liquidity and make the country's power market more competitive, an energy official said on Tuesday (23rd March). Bulgaria operates a system of regulated prices, which means that most transactions are carried out under power purchase agreements. Although Sofia has theoretically backed liberalisation in line with EU directives, the traded market only represents up to 25% of transacted volumes. This means that on average, only 8TWh of the total installed capacity deals in the market, Henri Donchev, an energy expert at the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism told ICIS Heren in an interview at the SEE Energy 2010 conference in Sofia, Bulgaria. "Bulgaria is becoming a major power producer in the area, and it is important to have such an exchange," one independent trader active on the Bulgarian market said. "Ideally, we would like it to be based here in Bulgaria, but there are other regional platforms which could offer similar services," the participant added. Donchev said the Bulgarian government is working with Norwegian water and energy directorate NVE to research launching a daily exchange in Bulgaria or joining a regional power exchange such as the Romanian Day-ahead platform Opcom. "It depends on the number of participants interested in being active on the platform and in setting a reference price. We are waiting for the study carried out by NVE to be completed by the end of the year before we can make any decisions," Donchev said. There are an estimated 70 local and foreign companies active on the Bulgarian market. (THE ICIS HEREN REPORTS - EDEM 14.057 / 23 March 2010) |
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