Prague Energy Exchange (PXE, http://www.pxe.cz) is a business platform for trading with electricity in the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Hungary. It was established on 5 March, 2007 with the aim of setting new rules for trading with electricity. Power trading thus entered a whole new era where the price is driven mainly by the relationship between the current supply and demand.

One of the main strong points of energy trading on the PXE is the transparency of the pricing system that is based on principles identical to those commonly used in other countries of the European Union. Another major benefit of the energy market is the continuous energy trading three years in advance, instead of just one year.

Basic terms:

Base load (BL) – Standardized commodities futures for physical delivery of electricity, usually for the next four calendar months (4 quarters and next 2 full years). Subject of the contract is delivery of electricity with a constant value of an hourly output of 1 MW throughout all days of the delivery period.

Peak load (PL) – Standardized commodities term contract with physical delivery of electricity, usually for the next two calendar months (4 quarters and next 2 full years). Subject of the contract is delivery of electricity with a constant hourly output of 1 MW between 8 am and 8 pm Monday through Friday of the given delivery period (regardless of bank or public holidays).

D, M, Q, CAL – Daily, monthly, quarterly and yearly contract (other characters indicate day, month and year of the contract)

Volume (pcs) – Number of traded contracts (in MW)

The most traded futures contracts in the Czech Republic (April 2009):

monthly - BL M05-09 107,880 MWh
monthly - PL M05-09 26,460 MWh
quarterly - BL Q03-09 353,280 MWh
quarterly - PL Q03-09 43,560 MWh
yearly - BL CAL10 1,883,400 MWh
yearly - PL CAL10 46,980 MWh

Daily maximum: 11 May 2009 – sum of volumes on all markets: 435,120 MWh.

Average daily volume (2008): 129,871 MWh

Trading hours:

years, quarters, months (base / peak)
08:00 – 09:00 closed auction
09:00 – 16:00 continuous trading
08:00 – 16:00 registering of trades (OTC)

days (except „day ahead“) (base / peak)
08:00 – 08:15 closed auction
08:15 – 16:00 continuous trading
08:00 – 16:00 registering of trades (OTC)

day ahead (base / peak)
08:00 – 08:15 closed auction
08:15 – 11:00 continuous trading
08:00 – 11:00 registering of trades (OTC)

hours
08:00 – 11:30 - Daily market (OTE + PXE)

all products
17:00 - Publication of the PXE Price List

all products
17:00 - 20:00 - Entering orders for the next Trading day