• The Corona pandemic makes for cheap energy market prices and an unprecedented flood of digital energy tenders
• Record number of online tenders for electricity and gas carried out via enPORTAL

The B2B online trading platform enPORTAL recorded an unprecedented number of online tenders for electricity and gas in the first quarter of 2020. Over 400 digital tenders were carried out by energy buyers from almost all sectors in the first quarter of 2020 with the support of their personal enPORTAL account managers and energy supply contracts were concluded for the coming supply years. The portal operator sees the reason for this in the sharp drop in forward market prices on the EEX energy exchange caused by the Corona pandemic. By means of digital solutions and online marketplaces, market opportunities can be seized quickly and the great competition in the energy market can be used. In this way, many medium-sized entrepreneurs were able to reduce their energy costs for subsequent years, in some cases significantly, with a click of the mouse.

Record number of online tenders carried out in the first quarter

The Corona pandemic caused energy prices to fall sharply on the stock exchange in recent weeks. Customers of enPORTAL reacted to these developments and increasingly launched online tenders for electricity and gas. In the first quarter of 2020, enPORTAL supported exactly 432 online tenders and helped energy buyers to obtain favourable supply conditions for the coming years. "This number is a record for us so far and shows that digital solutions enable fast reactions to market changes," says Rainer Otto, Managing Director of enPORTAL. In comparison, the number of tenders in the first quarter of 2019 was 110, and the online marketplace allows more than 630 energy suppliers to be contacted synchronously digitally and tenders to be issued within two hours. Many energy buyers from companies in the industrial, trade, hospital, real estate and commercial sectors have recognised this opportunity and taken the current favourable forward market prices as an opportunity to procure their energy volumes for subsequent years. "Times of crisis are also times of opportunities that can be seized quickly by means of digital solutions. In the energy sector, this can reduce costs immensely," says Clemens Graf von Wedel, Managing Director of enPORTAL.    

Advantages of digital tendering: Competition and cost reduction

Tenders conducted offline take time to compile the documents, send them to a random group of bidders and evaluate the bids. With this procedure, it is difficult to react quickly to short-term market changes. With an online-based portal solution, this is possible with a click. "If all relevant tender documents are available immediately, a market survey can be started quickly. Only then can costs be reduced," says Rainer Otto, Managing Director of enPORTAL. Relevant tender documents can be transmitted immediately to a large number of energy suppliers via the online marketplace, whereas this has to be managed manually and individually offline. At enPORTAL, more than 630 energy suppliers are informed synchronously, so that buyers benefit from the greatest possible competition in the market. "Our customers need a maximum of two hours and then have all the energy offers available transparently in a bidder's mirror. The time needed to evaluate the price offers is reduced to a few minutes," says Clemens Graf von Wedel, Managing Director of enPORTAL. Similarly, the negotiation with the energy suppliers as well as the conclusion of the energy supply contracts is possible quickly and completely online with online tenders.