Back to articles
Press Release
The company has established an office in Tokyo and completed its first trade of Japanese power futures.
Tokyo, Japan, November 8, 2022 — Trailstone Group, a global energy and technology company, announced today that it has established its first office in Asia and begun trading Japanese power futures on the European Energy Exchange (EEX). Trailstone can now offer renewable energy risk management and asset optimization services across Japan and deploy a suite of renewable energy products including route to market Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), imbalance risk management services and corporate PPA products. Trailstone has offered these services to asset owners in Europe since 2013 across more than 15,000 unique MWs of renewable energy assets.
Trailstone’s decision to set-up an office in Tokyo and enter the Japanese power market is in direct response to the recent changes to the Japanese power market design, and the ongoing environmental objectives of the Japanese government and businesses. The market design in Japan has many similarities with Germany, Trailstone’s home market, where the company currently manages over 4GWs of renewable assets.
“We are thrilled to enter the Japanese market and grow our renewables business. Leveraging our experience of trading on EEX - an exchange whose platform provides the liquidity and visibility to manage power positions - is a great first step.” said John Redpath, CEO of Trailstone. “In the future, we will also manage physical power and trade on JPEPX, which will enable us to help Japanese renewable asset owners better manage their imbalance and weather risks.”.
Tim Greenwood, Director of Sales & Managing Director Exchange at EEX added, “It is great that we can provide solutions to Trailstone to facilitate their expansion into the Japanese power market using EEX products. This will further strengthen our promise to bring more and more international counterparties to Japan. We are looking forward to extending our successful and established relationship with Trailstone."
Trailstone’s proprietary optimization platform uses robust weather models, data analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to better predict renewable energy supply and optimize returns for asset owners. Trailstone’s experienced risk management and trading teams use the platform to manage imbalances caused by weather related production risks, lowering the barriers to entry for asset developers and enabling the deployment of more wind and solar generation. At the grid level, improving the effectiveness and efficiency with which renewables are managed enables more assets to connect to the grid, lowering reserve requirements and costs, all of which provide a better environment for the end consumer.
Deregulation of the Japanese power market began in 1995 with the entry of independent power generators and has gradually expanded to cover most aspects of the market, including retail supply and trading, with further liberalization of ancillary services markets expected. According to Ante Pogacic, Head of Renewables at Trailstone, “The Japanese power market is very interesting and dynamic. In fact, it’s a perfect fit for our business. As a company that has been intimately involved in the growth of renewable generation in Europe, we are excited by the deployment path of renewables in Japan. The market awareness of imbalance management, the necessity for corporate partners to engage with renewables to satisfy their CSR obligations and the overall trajectory of the regulations here will, we believe, build a strong market that will have a huge impact on the carbon commitments of Japan.”
“We are newcomers to the Japanese market and have been made to feel very welcome”, Pogacic added. “Everyone we met during our market scoping exercise has been incredibly helpful and encouraging. Our colleagues recently attended Vanir Power Week and received a fantastic response from prospective partners, clients and even our competitors! We are especially grateful to the EEX Japan Power team for being so welcoming, they have been incredibly efficient and helpful.”.
Trailstone’s office in Tokyo is its ninth office and first in Asia. Earlier this year, Trailstone announced the opening of an office in Sligo, Ireland, and added another new office in Grenoble, France, through the recent acquisition of meteo*swift.
About Trailstone
Trailstone is a global renewable energy trading and asset management firm that provides risk management and energy optimization to improve production and financial returns. The company offers a fully automated end-to-end renewable power management platform, backed by a successful track record in energy trading. Trailstone’s proprietary technology leverages data analytics and meteorology to offer robust modeling, forecasting and trading capabilities to its clients. Trailstone was founded in April 2013. To date, Trailstone has helped optimize more than 15,000 MWs of renewable energy assets and operates in 15 countries. Learn more at www.trailstonegroup.com.
Media Inquiries:
Rebecca Collins
Media Relations Contact
trailstone@antennagroup.com