Closer look at Tuesday’s NOME orders offers strategy insights

A closer look at the quantities and prices of electricity amounts secured at Tuesday’s NOME auction, the second such session to be staged following last October’s introduction, provides insight into the market strategies being pursued by the buyers.

Overall, the prices major electricity suppliers were willing to pay for their respective purchases varied only slightly but the amounts ordered differed considerably.

Tuesday’s NOME auction session also showed that quantitative discrepancies amongst the smaller players have begun growing.

For a clearer picture, however, the amounts purchased on Tuesday need to be compared to those secured at last October’s inaugural session.

The objective of the recently launched NOME auctions is to provide third parties with access to the main power utility PPC’s low-cost lignite and hydropower sources as a measure to help break the utility’s market dominance.

A total of 460 MWh was offered in October, when bidding was subdued, for price levels of between 37.37 euros per MWh and 37.50 euros per MWh, compared to the smaller quantity of 145 MWh made available on Tuesday, which sparked fiercer bidding, driving prices up higher by 3.55 to 3.77 euros per MWh.

The independent electricity supplier Heron secured the greatest share of electricity offered at Tuesday’s auction, as was also the case last October. On Tuesday, Heron acquired 33 MWh at a price of 41.05 euros per MWh, after purchasing 108 MWh in October.

Elpedison followed with a 31-MWh purchase for 41.06 euros per MWh. The company secured 97 MWh in October.

Among the local market’s three major independent electricity suppliers, Protergia secured the smallest amount on Tuesday, buying 20 MWh for 41.05 euros per MWh after securing 105 MWh in October, which was that session’s second-biggest order.

Green secured the next biggest electricity amount on Tuesday, this being 16 MWh, at a price of 41.06 euros per MWh. The company bought 15 MWh last October.

Watt & Volt followed with 10 MWh, paying 41.10 euros per MWh. This supplier had purchased over four times the amount in October, 42 MWh.

OTE bought 9 MWh for 41.14 euros per MWh. Volterra, NRG and the newly arrived KEN bought equal amounts, 6 MW each, for prices ranging between 41.05 and 41.06 euros per MWh. In October, Volterra bought 20 MWh, NRG 53 MWh, while KEN did not participate.

Volton and EC Growth, a new arrival, bought the smallest amounts among the electricity suppliers, 4 MWh and 3 MWh respectively, at the same price, 41.06 euros per MWh. Neither had secured amounts in October.

Cement producer Tiran, the holder of an electricity supply license, acquired to enable NOME auction participation, bought 1 MWh for 41.06 euros per MWh.

The next NOME auction, to also offer 145 MWh, is scheduled for March.