Country: Bulgaria
IBEX EAD was incorporated on 10 January, 2014 as a fully-owned subsidiary of the Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD. The company holds the sole license to operate a power exchange in Bulgaria issued by the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission of Bulgaria (EWRC) for a period of 10 years. Bulgarian day-ahead market become operational on 19 January 2016 as a part of the EU-wide Multi Regional Coupling (MRC) and associate member of the Price Coupling of Regions (PCR) initiative.
 
On 27 January 2016 with an EWRC decision IBEX was designated as the Nominated Electricity Market Operator (NEMO) to implement the single price market coupling of the European day-ahead and intraday electricity markets (DAM and IDM) for the Bulgarian market pricing area for the next four years. The designation conformed that IBEX fulfills all the requirements set out in the CACM Regulation (Network Code) of 24 July 2015.
 
The fundamental task set out in the CACM Regulation is to ensure the smooth creation and effective operation of the European physical energy market. Today electricity is traded European-wide through market coupling, jointly organized by power exchanges and transmission system operators. Therefore, IBEX plans are directed toward future integration of the Bulgarian electricity market with the neighboring market zones.
 
Furthermore, as a solution to the gradual increase of energy generated from RES during the past years in Bulgaria that are seriously affecting the electricity market prices and grid operation Bulgarian intraday market is planned to become operational between the third and fourth quarter of 2017. Implementation of effective short-term market in Bulgaria will play a key role for successful integration of RES-E into the market and solution to variable and unpredictable physical nature of the RES.
 
Moreover, the digitalization of energy markets and the technological opportunities enabling algorithmic wholesale trading, machine learning and artificial intelligence will dramatically change the electricity market of the next decade.
 
 
ROLE IN THE PROJECT
IBEX is the Market Operator in Bulgaria and will provide market gaps and needs, energy market analysis and review of existing tools. It will also contribute significantly in the market integration of the demos in the Bulgarian market.