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UTILITY WEEK | 13Th - 19Th March 2015 | 27 Markets & Trading This week UK power prices rose 9 per cent in February Gas prices react bullishly to possible supply constraint from the Netherlands and russia Price reporting agency Platts said the average price for near- term UK power in February rose 9 per cent to £42.51/MWh, aer two months of price falls, as gas prices reacted bullishly to possi- ble supply constraint from both the Netherlands and Russia. By contrast, the Platts conti- nental power index for February was £31.41/MWh, which was 21.25 per cent higher than January's average for markets across north west Europe. European markets bounced back in February "as colder, calmer weather conditions combined with rising natural gas and carbon prices", Platts said. In the UK, the gains were mostly led by stronger gas prices, which reacted to last month's cold snap and news that future supply from Russia and the Nether- lands might be curtailed. "In the middle of the month the Dutch government announced new limits on produc- tion from the country's giant Groningen gas field," Platts energy analyst Alex Froley said. "Then at the end of the month there were growing tensions over the possibility of an interruption to Rus- sian gas supplies through Ukraine. However, supplies have remained healthy and there were no major cold snaps, and prices dropped back down again in early March," Froley added. The power markets were also supported by a stronger carbon market, which rose following a key vote in the European Parliament's environment committee on reforming the beleaguered market, said Platts European power editor Henry Edwards-Evans. JA rENEWabLEs Good Energy to trial trading platform Renewable energy supplier Good Energy is set to trial a new online trading platform exclu- sively for renewable energy. The company has teamed with digital services provider Open Utility to create Piclo, which offers businesses an "ebay style" trading platform to buy renewable energy directly from specific generation sites. "Renewable generators will be able to sell their electricity directly to their neighbours, local businesses or schools for the best price," said a statement from Good Energy. Good Energy chief executive Juliet Davenport added that the platform will put customers "at the heart of energy and could unlock the potential of renew- ables in the UK". The company said it is recruiting a limited number of consumers and generators to trial the scheme for six months. The project is part-funded by the Department of Energy and Climate Change's Energy Entre- preneurs Fund and tech-funding organisation Nominet Trust. ELEcTrIcITY Supply 'at risk' from transmission fees The security of Scotland's future electricity supply is "at risk" from "unfair" transmission charges, the SNP has warned. MSP Chic Brodie emphasised that transmission charges "must be heeded" at Westminster as they pose a "major barrier" to new power generation in Scotland. He said: "Coming at a time when hundreds of jobs at Longannet have been put at risk in large part due to transmission charges, this is an issue that can no longer be ignored. "It cannot be right that a ther- mal power station in Scotland can face crippling transmission charges of £40 million every year when an identical power station in the south of England would actually be subsidised. "It is time for action and the SNP will continue to make the case for a fairer energy market." The warning came aer Scottish Power chief corporate officer Keith Anderson called for a "fairer" Scottish transmission charging system. He said: "Scot- land needs a mixture of genera- tion types, but there needs to be a fair and level playing field with the rest of the UK in order to develop new power generation in Scotland." Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon wrote to David Cameron last month, calling for a review into the UK's energy supply, aer operators at the Longannet power plant warned it may shut because of National Grid's high transmission charges in Scotland. Colder weather combined with rising gas prices Tricks of the trade Jillian Ambrose "Could the carbon tax be in for more political tinkering?" The UK's carbon floor price offers that rare treat: an energy market policy that unites the views of the sector regardless of the usual divisions. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that it is a decision born of the Treasury and not the Department of Energy and Climate Change, but either way its reception is an almost unanimous, collective eyeroll. Environmentalists rightly point out that its effectiveness as that takes issue with the tax: the UK's power traders. Political risk is never a good thing when confidence is needed to boost liquidity and knowing that an ever-increasing element of the wholesale price depends on the whims of Treasury wonks is an uncomfortable place to be. Then again, being mired in debt is probably not a comfort- able situation for the govern- ment either, so it's possible the Treasury's cash-grab might survive the election aer all. a tool to reduce carbon emis- sions is negligible. Without a cap, generators are free to buy their way out. Businesses quite rightly point out that needing to buy their way out of their emissions when the rest of Europe only coughs up enough to cover the cost of the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS) is a bad thing for competitiveness. But now that the ETS is show- ing tiny green shoots of recovery and a new government is expected in a couple of months, could the carbon tax be in for further political tinkering? This, of course, brings us to the third corner of the industry