EDF Trading (EDF) is a leading energy trading company and a specialist in wholesale energy markets. Currently EDF is active as a PPA off-taker, where many transactions and contracts are of financial nature. Direct marketing (DM) activities in Germany are currently conducted under “white label” agreements with third party DM service providers, which carry out the balancing as well as market communication and redispatch 2.0 processes. EDF experiences unattractive conditions for “white label” services which are increasingly offered by competitors. It is also facing dependency on these services. EDF wants to investigate and evaluate the implementation of own DM activities and corresponding processes for German customers, where EDF takes over balancing risk and other responsibilities.

The primary objective of the project was the design of a DM target model for EDF in Germany. E-Bridge with the support of INTENSE have executed the following work packages and milestones:  Clear description of the current and future regulatory requirements for DM providers in Germany; Comprehensive overview of concrete processes, IT systems and staff needed to fulfil the role as a stand-alone DM provider. The processes entail a.o. all relevant balancing-, market communication and redispatch 2.0 processes.

In a first step a comprehensive generic DM target model was developed which covered and addressed the regulatory and operational requirements.

E-Bridge and INTENSE delivered a comprehensive description and assessment of the regulatory and operational requirements for the implementation of direct marketing activities in the German electricity market. Process requirements were visualized in detail and high resolution. Recommendations for technical implementation including system and IT solutions were given.