What it is
Power bought and sold for delivery over a grid during a stated period. It cannot be stored in bulk at reasonable cost, so supply must match demand moment by moment, and prices differ from region to region and hour to hour.
How it is usually quoted
The local currency per megawatt-hour.
This is the customary unit of the reference market. Other markets for the same commodity may use another unit or currency, and an exchange can change a contract’s terms: its own rulebook is the authority.
Where the reference contract trades
EEX and ICE in Europe, CME and ICE in North America, alongside the day-ahead auctions run by regional power exchanges.
Named for orientation only. Naming an exchange or a market here does not mean that GIO4X gives access to it.
What commonly moves it
- The cost of the fuels burned to generate it, chiefly gas and coal, and of carbon allowances
- Weather: temperature, wind, sunshine and rainfall for hydro power
- Stoppages at power stations and on the cables between regions
- Demand by hour, weekday and season
These are the things people who follow this market usually watch. They explain how the market works; they do not say what the price will do next.
Where it comes from
Generated wherever it is used. Markets are regional because power must travel over a grid, and links between grids are limited.
The order of producers changes from year to year, so no quantities or shares are given here.
At GIO4X
Electricity is not offered as a GIO4X instrument. This page is general education about a market that exists elsewhere, and nothing on it means that GIO4X quotes, trades or gives access to it.
The commodities GIO4X does list are Brent crude, gold, natural gas, palladium, platinum, silver and WTI crude.
Words worth knowing
A reference page. Educational information, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade. It gives no price and no forecast.