The doubled obligation to trade applicable as of the beginning of 2018 significantly contributed to the improvement of liquidity on all floors of the Polish Power Exchange. 

Therefore, in the framework of the annual frontal contract in the first quarter of 2018, transactions were made in a volume of 165.5%, larger than in relation to the analogical product in Q1 2017. High prices for the first quarter were also recorded on the RDN where the average price from Fixing 1 stood at a level of PLN 184.83/MWh, given a level of PLN 155.11/MWh in 2017.

The increase of the spot price was largely influenced by changes in the generation structure of conventional plants, by higher prices of generation fuels, and higher environmental costs incurred. More expensive emission allowances resulted also in the change of moods in term contracting on the Polish Power Exchange, where transactions on the annual contract BASE Y-19 in the first quarter were made at an average price higher by PLN 25.75 than in the analogical period of the previous year in relation to BASE Y-18 product.

On 11 October 2018, a bill amending the Energy Law Act of 10 April 1997 was submitted to the Sejm, which, among other things, imposes an obligation on power generators to sell their energy on commodity exchanges, on a market organised by an entity operating a regulated market on the territory of the Republic of Poland or on an organised trading platform operated by a company operating a commodity exchange within the meaning of the Act on Commodity Exchanges on the territory of the Republic of Poland. The aforementioned changes in the scope of the exchange obligation have been included in the Act of 9 November 2018 amending the Energy Law and certain other acts.

The introduction of the proposed amendments resulted in including all generated electricity in the so-called exchange obligation as of the entry into force of the aforementioned Act, i.e. as of 1 January 2019.