The European Energy Exchange (EEX) is pleased to announce that it has been chosen by the European Commission and the 24 participating Member States to operate as the transitional common auction platform for Emission Allowances for the third emissions trading period. As a result, EEX has now been commissioned to auction off a total quantity of at least 250 million Emission Allowances until a permanent common platform will be established.
EEX was awarded the corresponding contract by Jos Delbeke, Director-General for Climate Auction on behalf of the Commission and the participating Member States following a joint procurement procedure.
“We are extremely pleased that EEX has been chosen by the European Commission and the participating Member States as the partner for the transitional common platform, as the further development and implementation of the aims of EU emissions trading are an important issue for us. With the auction model which EEX has established and the efficient settlement by our clearing house European Commodity Clearing (ECC) we want to contribute to a smooth transition from the second to the third trading period”, emphasises Peter Reitz, Chief Executive Officer of EEX.
As the transitional common platform EEX will carry out auctions of EU Allowances (EUA) and EU Aviation Allowances (EUAA) of the third trading period on the Spot Market of the exchange. The exact auction volumes and dates are still to be co-ordinated between EEX and the European Commission as well as the Member States involved and will be announced afterwards. Auctions are tentatively estimated to start no later than end October.
EEX has recently simplified access to all of its EUA Spot Market auctions with a new type of admission. The “Auction only” admission ensures a simple and free of chargeaccess (if participants use trading on behalf and do not explicitly desire a technical connection) for companies that exclusively want to participate in auctions. Therefore, this admission is primarily aimed at the specific needs of small and medium-sized companies that are subject to emissions trading – but it is not limited to these.
Today, EEX is the leading exchange for auctioning of emission allowances. So far, more than 250 EUA auctions for the second trading period have been successfully carried out on behalf of Germany, the Netherlands and Lithuania. Since June, EEX runs
EUA auctions for the third trading period on behalf of the European Investment Bank (EIB). In the framework of the NER-300 initiative EIB makes use of the exchange secondary market as well as OTC-registration for clearing.
Additionally, further measures such as market making and clearing cost reduction have strengthened the liquidity of the EEX markets. In June 2012, EEX achieved a new monthly record. For the first time, more than 25 million tonnes of CO2 have been traded on the Spot and Derivatives Market. The open interest on the EEX Derivatives Market rose up to more than 42 million tonnes of CO2 compared with 12 million tonnes at the beginning of the year.
EEX and Eurex offer their participants a platform for trading in CO2 emission allowances. Within the framework of this co-operation, which was launched in December 2007, the Eurex participants can trade the CO2 derivative products listed on EEX
and participate in the EUA auctions through their existing infrastructure and a simplified admission process.