Romanian exchange BRM plans expansion as trading liquidity doubles

• Trading activity on Romanian exchange surges year on year
• BRM expects further expansion with Trayport Joule platform launch and NEMO day-ahead market
• Bourse eyes Bulgarian market but project delayed

LONDON (ICIS)–Romanian commodities exchange, BRM, has laid out internal and regional expansion plans as trading liquidity on its platforms has doubled year on year.

The exchange has seen a surge in activity in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period last year, with 13.2TWh changing hands on the spot and forward gas platforms.

The number of registered participants has also increased from 130 to 150 over the same period and BRM expects a further rise thanks to ongoing expansion plans.

Speaking to ICIS, Gabriel Purice, BRM’s director general, said BRM was completing a decade-long battle to become a nominated electricity market operator (NEMO) for the spot electricity markets.

The company already launched its electricity intra-day market at the end of May, which means that under the NEMO designation the outfit is integrated with similar EU platforms.

The next step is to launch in November the day-ahead electricity market, which will also operate under the NEMO designation.

The NEMO electricity day-ahead and intra-day markets are supported by BRM partner, Nord Pool.

Purice said the infrastructure is ready for launch but added that additional preliminary checks would need to be carried out in line with NEMO requirements.

“The intra-day platform already has 30 registered participants but we expect more people to join once we are in a position to offer the full day-ahead and intra-day package,” he said.

BRM first applied to become a NEMO spot electricity market operator in 2013 but had faced numerous internal challenges, including restrictive domestic regulations which required all electricity transactions to be carried on the state-owned platform OPCOM.

The restrictions were eventually lifted, following a number of court cases mounted by BRM and subsequent legal changes at domestic and EU level.

In a separate move, BRM is now preparing to offer from September access to the Trayport Joule platform, which provides integrated solutions for traders active on multiple markets.

He said the Joule platform would run alongside the supporting infrastructure already operated by BRM and would include standardised products for electricity and natural gas contracts.

REGIONAL EXPANSION

Purice said BRM is also active regionally, having launched BRM East Energy, now renamed BRM East, a subsidiary, in Moldova in April.

Since then, 29GWh have changed hands and there are 13 registered participants, according to BRM data.

Traded volumes are expected to rise from 2025 as Moldova has introduced an obligation for gas suppliers to secure volumes on the open market.

The director general said the exchange is looking to launch a day-ahead gas trading platform but the project depends on Moldova setting up a balancing market first. Balancing markets are a critical component of the spot market which facilitate accurate settlements.

BRM also eyes Bulgaria where it applied for a licence earlier in March, hoping to offer clearing services, which the country is yet to implement.

However, Purice said the application is being held up, noting the regulator DKER has recently asked BRM to provide proof of a signed agreement with the Bulgarian gas grid operator Bulgartransgaz to access their nominations platform.

Purice said the agreement should be submitted after the licence is granted.

DKER did not reply to questions by publication time.

Bulgaria’s local Balkan Gas Hub exchange is actively used by regional traders, particularly for volumes entering the market from Turkey and sold locally.

At the end of June it said it had partnered up with Hungary-based clearing house Keler CCP to offer central counterparty clearing services.