OPCOM will launch a centralised electricity market for bilateral contracts with continuous negotiation. The market will be used for trading physical electricity forwards contracts for multiple standard delivery periods. Trayport’s Exchange Trading Solution (ETS) will be modified to meet the requirements of the new market. The system to be implemented by OPCOM is a hybrid of the OTC and Exchange market models.

Trayport’s ETS is a market leading, real-time matching engine and front end trading system designed specifically to enable commodity exchanges to host electronic marketplaces. The extensive flexibility of the system provides exchanges with a single solution for price dissemination, order and deal management and matching of any energy commodity globally.

OPCOM (Operatorul Pietei de Energie Electrica si de Gaze Naturale SA) is the licensed Romanian Power Exchange. OPCOM administers centralised markets for electricity and natural gas based on the Electricity and Natural Gas Law and in accordance with the trading rules and regulation approved by ANRE (the Romanian National Regulatory Authority in the Energy field). These cover the wholesale spot and on term markets for physically delivered electricity and natural gas. This new market has been based on the works deployed within a Technical Working Group organised together with the market participants and interested parties including the civil society and energy field investors including the Property Fund.

A spokesperson at OPCOM said, ‘OPCOM’s opinion is that the launch of the new market is an important point in the development of energy trading in Romania. Trayport has significant experience in providing solutions for operating energy trading marketplaces. OPCOM wanted to capitalise on this experience and ensure it chose a provider who could also meet the requirements for a bespoke solution in accordance with the applicable regulations. The new platform aims to bring together all the participants in electricity trading from Romania and also the wider region and OPCOM hope it will deliver the long term benefits already experienced in other markets.

Kevin Heffron, Chief Operating Officer at Trayport said, ‘We are pleased that OPCOM has chosen Trayport as its exchange trading solutions partner. OPCOM recognised our commitment to supporting its current and future business needs and we are confident our solution will support the goal of enhancing trading liquidity. OPCOM is an important addition to our trading network and we look forward to working towards a successful implementation.’

Sorin Albeanu, Business Development Manager at Trayport added, ‘The new  system will allow traders to trade prices in real time, with improved risk management  as trades will happen only between companies that have been approved on a non-discriminatory basis by their in-house risk departments. In addition OPCOM will be using the system  through a Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery model with the many benefits this brings including a reduction in both the total cost of ownership and deployment timelines.’