Electricity futures trading Start experimentally Tokyo Commodity Exchange September 17 11:45
A new market for trading electricity has begun on a trial basis. With “future trading” that sells and buys future electricity, it will be noticed whether it will be a mechanism that allows new business operators to procure electricity stably after liberalization.
The experimental trading of “electric power futures” started on the 17th at the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, where futures such as crude oil and gold are traded.
Electricity up to 1 year and 3 months ahead will be sold and bought, and electricity retailers will be able to procure electricity for future customers at futures prices. Electricity to be traded is 24 hours and 12 hours, and at 8:45 am when the transaction started, it is a product for 24 hours in January next year, 4 months ahead, and the initial price of 11.50 yen per kilowatt hour arrived.
In the electric power industry, the retail business was liberalized three years ago, and companies other than major electric power companies called “new electric power” are entering one after another. However, the wholesale market for electricity, which is the main source for new businesses, is traded the day before or a few hours before supplying electricity, so the price tends to fluctuate depending on the weather and demand.
Electricity futures trading at the Tokyo Commodity Exchange is aiming for full-scale operation in three years, and is attracting attention as to whether it will be a mechanism for stable procurement of electric power for new businesses.
Takamichi Hamada, President of the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, said, “I was relieved that I was worried that a deal would be established without a sense of market value yet.