Okuzeka
Energy & Renewables vocabulary · Energy Markets and Tariffs

Wholesale market

Meaning in energy & renewables, with examples

nounCommon term

In energy & renewables, wholesale market means: The market where electricity is traded in large volumes between generators, suppliers, traders and large consumers before it reaches end customers.

In Turkish: toptan satış piyasası, toptan elektrik piyasası

How it is used

Wholesale prices are quoted per MWh and can change every hour or even every 15 minutes. The wholesale market includes day-ahead and intraday markets, futures and bilateral contracts. Traders talk about wholesale prices rising, spiking, falling or turning negative.

Example sentences

  1. Wholesale market prices fell below zero for several hours on Sunday afternoon.

  2. Large factories can buy directly on the wholesale market instead of from a supplier.

Common collocations

  • wholesale electricity price
  • wholesale market price
  • trade on the wholesale market
  • wholesale price spike
  • day-ahead marketAn exchange market where electricity for each hour, or quarter-hour, of the next day is bought and sold, usually through bids that close around midday.
  • power purchase agreementA long-term contract in which a buyer, such as a utility or a large company, agrees to purchase electricity from a specific power project at an agreed price.
  • tariffThe set of prices and rules that decides how much a customer pays for electricity or gas, for example per kWh, per month or by time of day.
  • utilityA company that supplies electricity, gas or water to the public and often owns or runs the network that delivers it. In energy texts it usually means a power company.

More terms: Energy Markets and Tariffs

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: