WARSAW: Poland's KI Energy Trading plans to take advantage of greater regional market integration by expanding its power trading into Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the company said on Monday.
The company, which is ultimately owned by Poland's richest man Jan Kulczyk through his Polenergia business, said that it has hired a number of traders who previously worked for Sweden's Vattenfall.
The Swedish power group withdrew from Poland after it sold its assets to Polish utilities Tauron and PGNiG .
KI Energy Trading's decision comes as Poland looks to join its power markets with those of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, which combined their day-ahead markets in September.
"The energy markets in the region are becoming more integrated," said Arkadiusz Zielezny, the KI Energy Trading chief executive. "To make a mark on the Polish market, one has to consider in the longer term entering Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia or Hungary.
Zielezny said that the company wants to enter the markets in the second half of the year, adding: "Now our trading team has seven people, but we do not rule out further expansion."
Combining the short-term electricity markets is part of a plan to link them eventually with the neighbouring central western European region, which includes Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Central and eastern Europe offers traders a potentially lucrative place to trade power, but fragmented national power markets and a lack of liquidity stands in the way.
The Czech and Slovak electricity markets merged in 2009 in a move that boosted liquidity and showed other central and eastern European countries that integration could work.
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