Contract extension for commercial market making services

The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko has extended by eight months the end of the current contract to provide commercial market making services.

The contract, which is currently with Vivienne Court Trading Pty Ltd (VivCourt), was due to expire on 30 June 2026. It will now expire on 28 February 2027.

The extension to the contract will mean any future transition to an incoming provider, and associated contract negotiations, will not take place during winter when price volatility can occur and when the market may be under stress.

It will also allow for any policy decisions arising from the upcoming review of market making settings to be incorporated in any new contract.

The Authority will undertake a procurement process for a new contract to provide commercial making services. The new contract will have a start date of 1 March 2027. Updates on this process will be provided on GETS - Government Electronic Tender Service

VivCourt Trading was awarded the contract to provide commercial making services in March 2024 following a two-stage procurement process.

That contract commenced on 1 July 2024 and was due to expire on 30 June 2026.

The commercial market maker is contracted to provide 20% of the total volume of market-making contracts.

The NZ electricity futures market is hosted on the Australian Securities Exchange. This market is also supported by market making services provided by New Zealand’s four largest electricity generator-retailers: Contact Energy, Genesis Energy, Mercury NZ and Meridian Energy.

For more background on commercial market making