19 June 2020 : New Power Exchange Operational Rules

In connection with the changes to the Energy Act adopted in 2019, in particular § 27. (2) of the Transitional and Final provisions of the Energy Act, today, 19th June 2020, Power Exchange Operational Rules (PEOR) were published in State Gazette 55/19.06.2020. Following the provisions of PEOR, Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange EAD (IBEX) publishes the following appendices to PEOR on its website:

PEOR (the Rules) are a document which regulates the rights and obligations of the Power Exchange operator and all trading participants registered on one, two or all market segments administrated by IBEX- Intraday, Day-ahead and Bilateral contracts. The Rules settle the rights and obligations of the operator and trading participants with respect to:

  • The registration procedure for organized power exchange market for electricity;
  • Termination of registration, suspension and exclusion of trading participants from organized power exchange market for electricity;
  • Access to the electronic trading systems for trading on the power exchange market as well as access to the settlement systems;
  • Functional features of the market segments administrated by IBEX;
  • Settlement and invoicing;
  • Market conduct.

The rules and the instructions listed above, which the Power exchange operator publishes, contain material updates to the organization of power exchange electricity trading which include but are not limited to:

  • Updated application for registration on all market segments administrated by IBEX which will considerably facilitate the registration of trading participants;
  • Supplementary provisions introduced which stipulate transparent and clear conditions for suspension and/or exclusion of trading participants that have breached PEOR;
  • Elimination of the procedure for cancellation of a transaction initiated by trading participants which have concluded a transaction (Mistrade) on Bilateral contracts market segment and Intraday market segment due to the SIDC market coupling where the segment operates Intraday
  • The Hourly products screen has been removed from Bilateral contracts market segment due to the introduction of Intraday market segment;
  • An instruction has been drawn up which lists the conditions and obligations of the Power exchange operator in connection with the organisation of training for the persons responsible for trading and settlement;
  • An auction initiation instruction has been drawn up which defines the manner for submission of an auction initiation application and the parameters which each initiator shall have to define upon submission of an application. Through this instruction IBEX launches the real operation of the online based auction initiation application which increases the transparency of auction organization;
  • An instruction for provision of a bank guarantee has been drawn up which lists the conditions for provision and eligibility of collateral in the form of a bank guarantee and provides a bank guarantee template;
  • An instruction has been drawn up which presents in detail values and a method for risk indicators calculation as well as the methods for calculation of required collateral on the market segments. The changes to the methods for calculation of required collateral allow trading participants to use the minimum collateral on Bilateral contracts market segment to submit orders whereby the total costs for trading are reduced without compromising the sustainability of the power exchange market for electricity or the counterparty risk;
  • An instruction for publishing inside information has been drawn up where the Power exchange operator clearly and precisely describes the mechanism for publishing information which is of material significance for the price levels of electricity;
  • An instruction has been drawn up for the products traded on organized power exchange market for electricity which defines the parameters of all instruments. The products on Bilateral contracts market segment have been standardized with a view to aligning the principles of operation of IBEX with those of the rest of the European operators of organized power exchange markets for electricity, increasing the level of transparency in the formation of reference prices of products with long-term delivery, eliminating doubts for transactions agreed in advance or non-market transactions. In this regard, IBEX requests all trading participants to send proposals for standardized products which they would like the Power exchange operator to offer for trading to operations@ibex.bg.