Maya Melikidze Urges Companies to Participate in Energy Exchange Trading

Will energy buyers and sellers be motivated to trade voluntarily on the exchange? According to the Renewable Energies Development Association (GRADA), there is interest in the sector, and some business representatives are set to participate in trading.

Maya Melikidze, executive director of GRADA, told "Business Partner" that this process will allow energy sector representatives to develop and start transitioning to European standards, where contracts are signed on the exchange, and businesses compete with each other.

"Based on the current processes, some business representatives have decided to participate in trading on the stock exchange. The challenge is that this is new territory, but I urge them to participate. The risks, whether calculated or uncalculated, will become apparent in this process, and these risks can be hedged now. We cannot avoid the mandatory operation of the exchange, where the probability and risk of certain difficulties will be high," says Maya Melikidze.

The stock exchange, which has been postponed six times, will partially open for voluntary trading on July 1. In the first stage, only day-ahead and daily markets will be launched. The hourly balancing obligation, as well as the opening of the balancing and support services market, will start on July 1, 2025.

The system has been operating in test mode, and government representatives confirm it is technically ready.

On the exchange, generation facilities with energy to sell and large consumers needing to buy electricity will trade voluntarily. From next year, they will be required to make purchases mandatorily. Until then, trading will be voluntary, and payments will be made. Until now, trading was in demo mode with no financial transactions.

The changes do not affect the population and small and medium-sized businesses, as tariffs for them will still be determined by the Regulatory Commission - GNERC.