Energy trading and RWE

RWE Supply & Trading was one of the first trading companies on the market. More than 1,300 employees in Essen (Germany), London, Swindon (UK) and Prague, as well as at the Essent Trading locations in Geneva (Switzerland) and Den Bosch (Netherlands), are engaged in international trading of electricity, natural gas, coal, oil, biomass and CO2 allowances and the procurement of natural gas for the Group.

About 50 traders follow the movements on the international energy wholesale markets in Essen alone. Since March 2009 they have been working on the new “Energy Trading Floor” – with an area of 3,000 square metres, this is biggest energy trading space in Europe. Michael Rosen, Head of External Communications at RWE Supply & Trading: “here we have the international energy trading markets at our fingertips via telephone and computer.”

Trading for RWE means creating maximum business gains and always keeping both eyes firmly on events taking place now and over the next days, months or years. The traders listen to signals sent by the market through prices but especially through price relationships. From these “price signals” they can create a picture that guides the building of trading positions on the various markets including buying and selling of energy products.

Financial experts alone would not be able to master this multitude of tasks. RWE employs economists, technicians, physicists, mathematicians, humanists and – because weather and climate play such an important part for supply and demand – three meteorologists to work on the trading floor in Essen. Successfully: RWE considers itself market leader in energy trading. In 2008, 1,200 terawatt hours of electricity (1 TWh = 1 billion kilowatt hours) were traded by RWE.

Essent acquisition consolidates RWE’s leading position in European energy trading

With the acquisition of Dutch electricity and gas supplier Essent Trading, RWE’s trading volume for electricity increased by 225 TWh to 1,425 TWh, for gas by 13 billion m3 to 53 billion m3 and for coal by 100 million tons to 230 million tons.

This is a leading position in European energy trading. RWE Supply & Trading has been active on all significant trading markets in Eastern and Western Europe since Essent trading was integrated and is now in an even better position to ensure fuel procurement at market prices.

 

The energy trading floor in numbers

  • Covers an area of 3,000 square metres
  • Can accommodate 250 employees.
  • The hall has a ceiling height of 7 metres and is the largest of its kind in Europe.
  • Another 560 employees work in the building.
  • They share a total of 12,100 square metres of office space on six floors.
  • Approximately 70 kilometres of cabling were laid behind the scenes.
  • All building work was completed after only 191 days.

Further Information

Integration of Essent Trading

Essent Trading improved RWE’s market position in the electricity and gas markets of Northwest Europe, in particular in the Netherlands, and extends our opportunities in Southern and Eastern Europe.

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Meteorologists at Supply & Trading

What should I wear tomorrow? Is it going to rain or will we have sunshine? Eric Stein recommends watching the weather forecast on the television to answer this type of question, even though he is a meteorologist by trade. His forecasts and prognoses serve a purpose that is entirely different.

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