The New Zealand’s Exchange (NZX) and the European Energy Exchange (EEX) have launched the first auction for the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS) – with strong uptake seen across the key sectors of the New Zealand economy.
The first auction within the NZ ETS cleared at a price of NZD36. The full volume of 4,750,000 New Zealand allowances (NZUs) was auctioned with 30 bidders being successful and a total of 40 bidders taking part in the auction. The cover ratio was 2.45.
New Zealand’s Minister for Climate Change, Hon James Shaw, formally opened the first bidding window at 9.00am (NZT) by ringing the bell at the NZX Centre in Wellington – ushering in auctions under the NZ ETS, one of the New Zealand Government’s main tools for meeting domestic and international climate policy targets.
NZX Chief Executive, Mark Peterson, says a particular success of the first auction was the level of interest and direct participation from major industries such as manufacturing and transport, along with the forestry sector and private interests.
“We have seen interest building in the lead-up to this first auction, and this is a tremendous vote of confidence in what we have delivered with EEX – establishing fair, transparent, easy-to-access and efficient allocation mechanism for NZU (emissions units) on behalf of the New Zealand Government.”
“We’re really proud to be part of this important milestone and what it means in terms of New Zealand and the global transition to a low-emissions future”, Peterson says.
Peter Reitz, CEO of EEX, adds: “EEX is proud to have contributed to the development of the auction platform for the NZ ETS, drawing on our experience from the European and North American carbon markets.”
“It has been a great team effort and an excellent co-operation with NZX. The NZ ETS is first and foremost a domestic policy instrument. However, I hope our collaboration can also serve as an example and inspiration for the future development and integration of carbon markets.”
NZX and EEX announced their cooperation in December 2019, with an initial focus on securing new opportunities in the New Zealand emissions market. In October 2020, NZX and EEX were selected by the Ministry for the Environment to develop and operate the managed auction service for the New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS), following a successful tender. Mr Peterson, said he sees new opportunities opening up as the New Zealand market matures and NZX and EEX will be jointly exploring further areas for co-operation.
The NZ ETS auctions will take place in a quarterly cycle in 2021 within a three-hour time window from 9.00am (NZDT) until 12.00 pm. During this year, a total of 19 million NZU will be auctioned under the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme.
