RWE : offers municipal utilities and industrial customers flexible platform for optimised online trading

Automated trade and dynamic IT systems, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week - this all comes courtesy of the redesigned and flexible online trading platform from RWE Supply & Trading GmbH.

The energy trading firm is closing a gap for municipal utilities and industrial customers in the fast-paced market environment in electricity and gas trading. For these customers, it is not worthwhile to have such a wide range of proprietary products and in-house expertise in a hotly contested, low-margin market. The Easy Commodity Trader (ECT) is the cornerstone of an extensive range of online products through which co-operation partners benefit from RWE's end-to-end electricity and gas portfolio management. Another advantage is that the interface has been standardised as a Web application, eliminating installation requirements. The new design will be showcased for the first time at the E-world energy & water trade show from 7 to 9 February 2017.

The ECT's modular structure accommodates both full-line utilities as well as co-operation partners and industrial enterprises with an affinity for trading. For example, RWE provides gas prices displayed along an hourly curve for both the current and the following day (intraday and day ahead), allowing for trades to be concluded in the current hour as well. 'This puts customers in the position to react to portfolio fluctuations more specifically and without lead times as well as to benefit from our offering directly,' emphasizes Hendrik Niebaum, who is responsible for attending to the industrial customers and municipal utilities of RWE Supply & Trading as Head of Commodity Solutions.

The company offers the platform for bilateral trading and as a product that can be labelled by partner municipal utilities. 'The advantage of these two apps for our customers is self-evident. They often focus on trading during traditional office hours, because running a unit that is active around the clock on their own would be far too expensive due to shrinking margins and the market's pressure on prices,' explains Robert Kronenberg, Head of Gas Portfolio Management. 'This is why our automated 24/7 trading helps customers to assert themselves on the current market. 'Labelling allows partner companies to re-market the platform to their customers and thus offer products and services that would usually be unprofitable in their own portfolios on a stand-alone basis. RWE attaches very high importance to neutrality, transparency and security in relation to customer portfolios. 'Our customers do not need to fear that they may become dependent,' underscores Hendrik Niebaum.

'What holds true for all our modules is that the customers decide how much room for manoeuvre they allow for and what they would prefer to do themselves,' underpins Martin Keiner, Head of Electricity Portfolio Management. The ultimate goal is always an individual, bespoke service. This runs the gamut from covering trading periods that have not been used so far to the complete automation of a trading business. Says Martin Keiner, 'All customers have to do when using the Algo Trader is to determine a strategy based on price, volume or a combination of the two, which is then executed automatically.' He states further, 'Our services encompass not only classical electricity and gas trading, but also relate to assets such as storage facilities, supply agreements and substitute fuels, the value of which potential customers have not fully tapped into yet. The degree to which the partners do this is determined jointly by the parties involved.'

Anyone interested can try out the Easy Commodity Trader and the associated products and have them explained by RWE experts at the E-world energy & water trade show. Go to www.rwe-services.com for additional information on the product.