OREANDA-NEWS. June 21, 2010. On June 21, 2010 RTS Group together with the OJSC Moscow Energy Exchange will launch trading in a power futures contract. The underlying asset for the new contract is the monthly average price for  power at five hubs uniting Russian network nodes – Center, Ural, South, Eastern Siberia and Western Siberia.

Starting from June 21, 2010 trading will launch in futures contracts on the average power price at Center and Ural hubs. Trading will start simultaneously on contracts with settlement dates in July and August 2010. It is planned to launch trading in futures contracts on power at the other hubs of the Russian energy market and to also increase the number of settlement months.

The futures contract on power was introduced following the liberalization of the energy market, and also the demand of energy producers and consumers for stable power prices. 

The new instrument will provide an opportunity to hedge the energy market participants’ risk associated with the fluctuations of power prices and is meant  for both the wholesale market for electricity and power and retail consumers. The total Russian energy market volume currently stands at RUB 1.5 trillion, which indicates there is  potential for future development of the market for power hedging instruments.

During February to May 2010, as part of the project between RTS Group and the OJSC Moscow Energy Exchange, power testing trading was held, which attracted over 500 traders from 200 power companies.