European power trading innovation: The rise of PPAs
The end of guaranteed prices for renewables generation is sparking a revolution in risk management
A power-purchase agreement (PPA) sounds inherently very simple. One party agrees to sell power in certain volumes over a certain period for a certain price, the other to buy. But a renewable power asset is decidedly less simple, not producing a predictable volume of energy. Nor is the future price of electricity certain, or even observable beyond the liquid traded market. With PPAs the preferred method of underpinning the investment case in renewables assets, it is not surprising, Michael Waldner, CEO of software firm Pexapark tells Petroleum Economist, that understanding their price risk has become so important. Pexapark CEO Michael Wald

Also in this section
1 August 2025
A number of companies have filed arbitration claims against Gazprom over non-deliveries of contracted gas or other matters—and won. The next step is to collect the award; this is no easy task but it can be done thanks to an international legal framework under the New York Convention.
1 August 2025
Europe’s refining sector is desperately trying to adapt to a shifting global energy landscape and nowhere is this more apparent than in its largest economy
1 August 2025
The Middle East natural gas playbook is being rewritten. The fuel source offers the region a pathway to a cleaner, sustainable and affordable means of local power, to fasttrack economic development and as a lucrative opportunity to better monetise its energy resources.
31 July 2025
TotalEnergies is an outlier among other majors for remaining committed to low-carbon investments while continuing to replenish and expand its ample oil and gas portfolio, with an appetite for high risk/high return projects.