The European Energy Exchange (EEX) intends to enable negative prices on its natural gas spot markets as of 1 October 2020, following a number of key price fluctuations which have taken place in the market over the recent months. Driven by EEX’s committment to always provide its customers with state-of-the-art services and support – as market-based solutions for trading, balancing or pricing – the move will allow the exchange to handle any price scenario that may arise in the future. The activation date has been set in coordination with regulators, infrastructure operators and trading participants to ensure a smooth implementation in every system.
Dr Tobias Paulun, Chief Strategy Officer of EEX, says: “As an exchange, EEX is committed to providing our customers with the right instruments which best answer their trading and clearing needs. By enabling negative prices, we aim to provide the gas market and its participants with more flexibility, thereby ensuring that supply and demand can be matched at all times and under all circumstances.”
EEX Group has already been handling negative prices in the power spot market for 12 years and has the necessary experience and knowledge to implement negative prices efficiently. In order to test the implied changes, EEX already provides market participants with access to both a trading and clearing simulation environment which allows negative prices.
