The Electricity Market Operator of Moldova (OPEM) organized a training workshop today for electricity market participants on the competitive trading process of electricity for next-day delivery on the Day-Ahead Market (DAM).
The Day-Ahead Market, which is part of the wholesale electricity market, plays a vital role in forming a fair and transparent price for all market participants. Today's workshop is part of the schedule to operationalize short-term markets, said Cristina Efremov, OPEM Administrator, during the event's opening.
OPEM is a subsidiary of OPCOM, Romania’s energy exchange, and has been designated by the Government as the operator of the electricity market. The platform will facilitate transactions on both the Day-Ahead Market (DAM) and the Intraday Market (IDM), allowing energy trading at hourly prices.
Cristina Șetran, Director of OPCOM, reiterated her determination and commitment to supporting OPEM’s objectives in launching the short-term markets.
“We see this not only as a responsibility but also as a passion project for us in Romania. A fair energy price can only be achieved through sufficient market liquidity and participation. As a result, this price will also serve as a reference for other types of transactions, such as bilateral contracts,” stated Cristina Șetran.
During the workshop, the DAM platform and local trading system were presented, and the platform’s functionality was tested together with participants under simulated market conditions.
The wholesale electricity market consists of the forward contract market, the Day-Ahead Market (DAM), the Intraday Market (IDM), and the balancing market.
The Day-Ahead Market (DAM) is an auction-based mechanism where offers for the delivery day are submitted by 12:00 p.m. for each hour of the following day. The hourly offer price represents the maximum price at which the DAM participant commits to buying the quantity of electricity stated in the bid. The resulting transactions are firm commercial obligations of the participants and are settled by the physical delivery of electricity into the national electricity system (NES) on the delivery day.
The Intraday Market (IDM) allows electricity trading up to 90 minutes before the delivery hour. Offers entered into the trading system are visible anonymously, and matching is done continuously as soon as the required conditions are met. It should be noted that for the same hourly interval, multiple different prices may exist based on the concluded transactions.
The training is part of OPEM’s market operationalization calendar, which includes setting and implementing the transaction settlement solution, registering participants according to procedures established by the electricity market operator, and the actual launch of the organized electricity markets.
The creation of such short-term markets—especially the Day-Ahead Market—is essential to enable future coupling with neighboring electricity markets and, in particular, to join the European Union's single day-ahead and intraday market coupling (SDAC and SIDC).
