Electricity markets in our country operated within EXIST are called spot markets due to the close maturity of transactions. All designs and developments of the operated Day Ahead and Intra Day markets have been put into practice with domestic and national resources within EXIST and offered to our energy sector.

When the development of electricity markets in our country is examined, it is seen that the long-term electricity contracts that are subject to regulation and provide central counterparty services are operated within Istanbul Stock Exchange (BIST) and only cash settlement is offered. In addition, the long-term electricity contracts that are not regulated and do not provide central counterparty services are traded both in cash and physically in the over-the-counter markets (OTC).

After all the stakeholders come to an agreement that a need arises for a new market, in addition to the existing ones, with long-term, central counterparty service and physical delivery, the Power Futures Market (PFM), all designed and developed with national and domestic resources within EXIST, is offered to the service of the entire sector.

In the spot electricity markets, market participants are able to balance their portfolios and make physical optimization. In the Power Futures Market, the market participants have the opportunity to offset the price risk (hedging) and to see price prospects for the future (price discovery). Therefore, spot and Power Futures Markets can be considered as the markets that fulfill the different needs of the market participants and they complement each other in this respect.

Forward transactions can be made in organized markets as well as in the over-the-counter markets through bilateral agreements. There is counterparty risk in the transactions made in over-the-counter markets and the price discovery function for the future is not realized since all the transactions are not published regularly. With the emergence of sound price expectations for the future, feasibility studies for electricity and electricity-based investments will become easier, and an atmosphere of trust will be ensured for new investments.