A total of 50.9 TWh of short-term power traded on the EPEX Spot power exchange in May, up 5.7 TWh or 13% on the year and the highest volume since December 2015.
Volumes on day-ahead markets rose to 43.7 TWh, up 11%, with trading volumes on the German/Austrian day-ahead market -- the largest segment -- at 20 TWh, up 2% on the year. Record volumes were reached on the French and the Dutch day-ahead power markets. While France went up 18% to 11.3 TWh, the Dutch day-ahead market jumped 40% to 3.9 TWh, also showing the fastest growth rate.
The UK day-ahead market climbed to 3.8 TWh, up 3%, while the Belgian day-ahead market grew 28% to 2.2 TWh traded.
Prices in Central Western Europe -- including Germany/Austria, France and the Benelux region -- converged only 12% of the time in May, far less often than the 49% during the same month last year.
Intraday markets grew 25% on the year to 7.2 TWh after volumes saw high growth rates over recent months.
The German/Austrian intraday market accounted for 4.7 TWh, while the UK continuous market remained the second-largest intraday market, with 1.6 TWh traded in May, according to EPEX Spot.
EPEX Spot is part of EEX Group (51%) and HGRT (49%). EPEX Spot operates the power spot markets for Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg.
