The Greek energy exchange and gas grid operator DESFA are looking to expand the exchange’s number of trading participants by introducing registration process revisions that would make it easier to conduct transactions, energypress sources have been informed.

At present, the exchange hosts a total of 20 participants, while talks are in progress for the addition of a further nine companies, mostly from abroad.

DESFA and Greek energy exchange officials are seeking to determine whether it is possible for balancing market responsibilities to be covered by third parties rather than participating traders, themselves, a challenging task.

At the same time, the energy exchange is working on the prospect of introducing new products to the trading floor as a longer-term plan. Any new products that appear on the exchange’s trading platform would have to correspond to real market needs as, otherwise, they would not produce desired results and potentially affect the market as a whole.

For the time being, energy exchange officials have begun exploratory talks with market participants to accurately gauge their level of interest for new products.

Energy exchange officials are looking at beginning with shorter-term products, such as D+2, D+3, week-ahead, balance-of-month, and month-ahead products, before progressively moving on to longer-term products.