Energy trading software is every system a power or gas desk uses to get from a forecast to a settled invoice. The ETRM is the system of record, and most buyers start there. But a desk runs on a chain of systems around it, and most of the problems sit in that chain. This guide maps the chain, shows where desks go wrong, and lists the questions to ask before you buy, rent or build any part of it.
Jordan Dimov (A115). Published 14 November 2026. Dated facts were checked against primary sources on that day; sources are at the end. A115 builds trading systems. This guide names no software vendor.
The systems at a glance
| System | What it does | What it hands on |
|---|---|---|
| Market data and curves | Collects prices, fundamentals and weather, and builds the forward curve | Prices and curves, with the time each arrived |
| Analytics and forecasting | Turns data into views of demand, generation, prices and spreads | Forecasts and signals, to traders and to bidding |
| Execution | Sends orders to the auctions, the continuous market and brokers | Fills and auction results, straight to the book |
| The ETRM | Records every trade and works out positions and P&L | The official position and P&L |
| Nominations and scheduling | Turns positions into physical plans for the grid and the gas network | Notified volumes, before each deadline |
| Settlement and reporting | Checks settlement runs and invoices, and files regulatory reports | Reconciled cash, and reports from the same data as the P&L |
Each system in turn
Market data and curves
Prices from exchanges and brokers, fundamentals such as demand, generation and interconnector flows, and weather. The forward curve built from them values every open position. What matters as much as the data is its history: when each price arrived, and which curve was in force when a trade was valued. Without that, nobody can explain yesterday's P&L today. A115 built the market and fundamentals data pipelines for one of Britain's largest desks, at Centrica.
Analytics and forecasting
Demand, wind and solar, prices and spreads. This is where most desks want to be different from their competitors, and where bought software helps least. The models change every season, and the questions traders ask change every week. Our article on the spark spread shows one of the numbers these systems watch.
Execution
In Great Britain, the day-ahead auctions run on EPEX SPOT and Nord Pool, separately from the coupled auction the rest of Europe shares. Within the day, power trades continuously on the exchanges, and longer-dated contracts trade mostly through brokers and their screens. Each venue has its own interface, its own cut-offs and its own ways of failing. The software that builds orders, sends them and reads the results back is small, but a desk notices the day it breaks. Power trading explained walks through the stages and deadlines it has to meet.
The ETRM
The system of record: trade capture, positions, P&L, credit, confirmations and the data settlement needs. What is an ETRM system? covers what it does, what it leaves out and the main products. Everything else on this page either feeds the ETRM or reads from it.
Nominations and scheduling
Physical positions become physical plans. In Great Britain, a power desk notifies contract volumes to Elexon and sends physical plans to NESO, each before its deadline. A gas desk nominates its flows to the network. Scheduling is where a desk's own rules live, so it is often built rather than bought.
Settlement and regulatory reporting
Each settlement run and invoice is checked against the desk's own records, and trades are reported to the regulator under REMIT and EMIR. A report is only as right as the position behind it, so reports are best produced from the same data as the P&L. At Shell, A115 built real-time position and P&L across six commodity desks, with EMIR and REMIT reporting from the same data.
Where desks go wrong: between the systems
Every system above can work, and the desk can still get its numbers wrong. The errors live between the systems: the spreadsheet that copies fills from an exchange into the ETRM, the export that turns positions into nominations, the manual fix after a late price.
People who run and build trading desks have described these problems to us:
- a book still kept in spreadsheets that cannot cope with 15-minute products;
- a scheduler that handles one market but not a second;
- exchange interfaces too complex to build on;
- suppliers who would rather rent out their software than build in the desk's own cloud.
The answer is one source of truth. The trader, the desk head and finance each see their own view of the same positions, and the reports come from the same data. Units and calendars are part of it. At Shell, gas was booked on several hubs in different units, and the positions only added up across TTF, THE, PEG and NBP once the units were standardised in one place.
Buy, rent or build, system by system
Not every system deserves the same decision.
- Commodity systems. Exchange connections, broker screens and, for many desks, the ETRM core. Others have solved these problems, and buying or renting is usually right.
- The desk's edge. Forecasting, bidding logic, scheduling and the analytics on top. Software that everyone can buy makes a desk trade like everyone who bought it.
Three honest tests for any system you rent: how hard it is to leave, who else can see your trades and positions, and whether it can run in your own cloud under your own controls. For the ETRM itself, see Buy, build or both in our ETRM guide.
Automating the day-ahead auctions
Automated bidding in the day-ahead auctions is now normal. The day-ahead trading automation Jordan Dimov built at Limejump, on EPEX SPOT and Nord Pool, was adopted by the whole floor.
Automation brings records with it. For firms trading on EU markets, REMIT Article 5a asks those that trade by algorithm to control and test their systems and keep five years of records; our guide to Article 5a explains them. From 29 October 2027, algorithmic orders and trades on organised markets also carry an Algorithm ID, covered in our article on revised REMIT reporting.
What has changed since 2025
- 15-minute products on the Continent. The EU's coupled day-ahead auction has traded in 15-minute periods since delivery day 1 October 2025. Great Britain settles in half-hours. Systems built around hours or half-hours need work to hold both.
- Great Britain still trades separately. Britain left Europe's coupled power markets at the end of 2020. On 30 March 2026, EU governments authorised the European Commission to negotiate Britain's participation in the EU's internal electricity market, alongside an agreement on a British financial contribution (Council Decision (EU) 2026/813). The talks are open, and nothing had been signed when this was checked. Until then, a desk trading both sides runs two sets of auctions, cut-offs and rules. Our analysis of Britain's interconnectors measures what the separation costs.
- The REMIT Algorithm ID arrives on 29 October 2027, as above.
Where AI agents fit
AI agents can now draft bids, chase confirmations and propose corrections. Let them propose, and let the desk's rules decide what reaches the book. AI in trading describes the controls that come first.
Questions to ask any supplier, including your own team
- Who owns the data, and can you get all of it out through an API?
- Does it handle every market you trade, or plan to: power and gas, Great Britain and the Continent?
- Is it ready for 15-minute products?
- Can it run in your own cloud, under your own access controls?
- Is there an audit trail of every change: who made it, when, and under which rules?
- How long until the first live trade, and who supports it on a bad night?
Common questions
What software do energy traders use? A chain of systems: market data and curves, forecasting and analytics, execution on exchanges and broker screens, an ETRM as the system of record, scheduling, and settlement and reporting. Most desks buy some of these and build others.
Is an ETRM enough? No. An ETRM records trades and values them. It does not forecast, and on its own it rarely places auction bids or schedules every market. What is an ETRM system? lists what it leaves out.
How do I pick software for energy market trading? Start from the chain, not from a product list. Decide which systems are commodity and which are your edge, then ask the questions above of every option, including building it yourself.
What does a small desk need on day one? A reliable record of prices and positions, a way to submit bids and read the results, and a P&L the desk head and finance both trust. A full ETRM can come later. The data model is what to get right first.
Sources
- NEMO Committee, 15-Minute MTU in SDAC was implemented, 1 October 2025: implemented on trading day 30 September 2025 for delivery day 1 October 2025.
- Council of the EU, Council greenlights talks on electricity and cohesion deals, press release, 30 March 2026.
- Council Decision (EU) 2026/813 of 30 March 2026 authorising the opening of negotiations with the United Kingdom on its participation in the internal electricity market of the Union and on its financial contribution towards reducing disparities between the regions of the Union, Official Journal of the European Union, L series, 7 April 2026 (CELEX 32026D0813).
- REMIT: Regulation (EU) No 1227/2011, Article 5a, and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/256. The dates are as checked for our two REMIT articles, which give the full references.