The creation of a gas trading platform and a Greek spot gas market were at the center of the online workshop organized jointly by DESFA and EnExGroup (HEnEx & EnExClear), under the auspices of RAE, on Monday, July 12, 2021, titled “Hellenic Natural Gas Market Joint Workshop on Natural Gas Trading Platform”.
More precisely, the proposed framework and underlying concepts of the new Trading Platform, as well as the new Balancing, Trading & Clearing arrangements in the Hellenic Natural Gas Market were presented during the event. The Platform is expected to start operating next autumn and will allow anonymous gas trading to the benefit of all market stakeholders.
An opening statement was made by Dr. Dimitrios Psychogyios, Associate Professor at the University of Piraeus, First Vice President of RAE, who commented: “The project offers numerous, tactical and strategic, benefits to the Greek Energy Market and to Greece in general. In way to enjoy the aforementioned benefits, there are steps that must be implemented and challenges to be faced, such as: Enhancing liquidity provision, eligible market maker/liquidity provider, auctions along with continuous trading, interconnections with other countries and trading platforms. Toward this end, RAE will fully support the implementation of the project as we totally believe in its success and its benefits and RAE will work toward an effective market inspection and monitoring under a fairly low regulated environment.”
During his opening statement, the CEO of the Hellenic Energy Exchange (HEnEx), Prof. George Ioannou, stated: “In the context of the energy transition of the EU and Greece, the establishment of the Natural Gas Trading Platform is a very important development and milestone we are proud to have reached in collaboration with DESFA. This platform will broaden our spot market and open the door for new interconnections and trading opportunities, which will benefit our market participants. We are very much looking forward to launching the platform this year and to see it grow further.”
Maria Rita Galli, CEO of DESFA, during her opening statement, noted: “Today, along with HEnEx, we take a major step forward in providing the trading tool that is required to complete the picture and thus to establish a spot market for gas in Greece. Thanks to this tool, DESFA will be able to provide to its users more options to optimize their business in Greece and expand them cross-border, in a cost efficient transparent and non-discriminatory way. Furthermore, in the context of the decarbonization process, we are eager to see future expansion of HEnEx activities in the new gases market.”
The workshop was attended by by over 200 executives of the Greek and international gas market, including traders, suppliers and major consumers.