RWE Sells 400MW in Third Power Auction for 2008

German utility major RWE has reported that 56 companies took part in the third power auction held by it in 2008, purchasing the complete lot of nearly 400MW power on offer. The auction was conducted by independent auction firm, CRA International.

By the end of the auction, the price had reached E78.70 per MWh for the base-load product for 2009. RWE said that E88.99 per MWh was the final price for the profiled product, which is a combination of base-load and peak-load power for 2009.

On the day of the auction, the base-load product was being traded at the European Energy Exchange for E79.30 per MWh. The next RWE power auction will be held in mid-October 2008.

At quarterly auctions until 2011, RWE will sell an annual capacity of 1,600MW from depreciated hard-coal and lignite power plants to European industrial customers for supply throughout the year following the auction. This is equivalent to a total volume of 46,000GWh, which is almost as much as RWE’s annual sales to industrial customers in Germany.

Andreas Radmacher, CEO of RWE Key Account, said: “For many industrial customers RWE’s power auction has become an additional and innovative purchasing model.”