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Carbon emissions exchange launched
Kevin Morrison, FT Syndication Service
11/1/2005
LONDON: New Values and Sendeco2, two European carbon emissions exchanges, are teaming up with UKPX, a UKbased power exchange, to launch a pan-European spot carbon emissions exchange under the Climex Alliance umbrella group.
The creation of Climex Alliance will see each focus on their domestic market. New Values is Dutch, Sendeco is Spanish and UKPX will focus on the UK, where there is no spot emissions market at present.
The move is a sign of consolidation by Europe's carbon emission exchanges. The European Climate Exchange (ECX), the London-based futures exchange, has linked up with France's Powernext, while Oslo-based Nord Pool and the Leipzig-based European Energy Exchange have remained independent.
"We think consolidation will continue and we are open to talks with other exchanges," said Axel Posthumus, chief executive officer of New Values.
The Climex Alliance also includes STX Services, a carbon emissions broker for the Dutch and Belgian markets, and Vertis Environmental Finance, an investment group based in Hungary.
Mr Posthumus said 80 to 90 per cent of companies that own carbon allowance under the European emissions trading scheme did not trade on any exchange.
He said a reason why companies had not been trading was because the national registries in 11 of the EU's 25 members were not ready.
"There is still plenty of growth potential, because you cannot trade without the registry," he said.
Emissions trading on New Values and Sendeco2 averages between 20,000 and 30,000 tonnes a week, a fraction of the 600,000 tonnes traded on ECX a day in the middle of October, 2005.
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