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On May 8, 2012, STX Services B.V. (STX), launched an electronic trading platform for the sale and purchase of renewable energy certificates relating to power consumption within the European Union.
The new platform will allow for the trading of Guarantee of Origin (GoO) certificates which provide proof to the final customer that the energy produced was from renewable sources. GoO certificates were introduced by the 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive. One GoO certificate represents the generation of one megawatt hour of electricity.
STX, an Amsterdam-based brokerage firm dealing in environmental based commodities, held its first auction on May 8, 2012 and is likely to hold another one towards the end of May 2012. STX has stated that it hopes to eventually run daily auctions, and expand to include other renewable energy certificates.
STX feels that the advantages of the new trading platform are that:
- buyers and sellers of GoO certificates can participate concurrently;
- buyers and sellers can login to the platform from wherever they are located;
- the supply and demand dynamic of the online auction will result in the realization of a true and fair market price; and
- it provides greater liquidity in an otherwise fragmented international market.
More than 25 percent of the most active market participants attended the first auction, during which 100,000 GoOs were bought and sold at a clearing price of €0.37. Participants in this first auction pointed to, amongst other things, the transparency and efficiency engendered by the new platform.
The launch of this new trading platform comes at a time when the European Commission is actively looking at ways to regulate and increase the transparency of commodity markets. Proposals include establishing transparent trading venues. STX has designed its new platform with this in mind, and hopes that it will enable all participants to buy and sell renewable energy certificates on a level playing field.
In addition, the new platform represents a further development and expansion in the trading of green power.
© 2013 McDermott Will & EmeryAbout the Author
