Energy trading jobs

Energy traders sell the output of wind, solar, hydro, and battery fleets into wholesale power markets, hedge its price, and buy or sell the PPAs and certificates attached to it. Most openings are on the trading desks of generators and battery owners such as Alpiq, Ørsted, Boralex, and Plus Power, and many expect traders to write code.

What the jobs involve

• Short-term power traders bid the day-ahead auction from production forecasts, then trade intraday and balancing markets as forecasts change. Expect shifts and weekend rotas.
• Battery storage traders split capacity between energy and reserve markets, increasingly through algorithms.
• Forward traders and portfolio managers hedge output months or years ahead with futures and swaps.
• Originators negotiate power purchase agreements with utilities and corporate buyers.
• Sales traders broker guarantees of origin and RECs; cold calling is the core of the job.
• Analysts, risk managers, and mid-office staff build price forecasts, watch risk limits, and settle trades.

Who is hiring

Generators trade their own fleets: Ørsted in Gentofte and London, Alpiq in Lausanne, Olten, and Oslo, Sunly in Tallinn, Nadara in Milan and Madrid, and Bord na Mona in Ireland. Battery desks recruit at Ingrid Capacity in Stockholm, enspired in Vienna, and Neoen in Canberra. Caely Renewables and OTC FLOW broker certificates from Amsterdam. Houston is the North American hub, where Enel and Hanwha Energy USA trade Texas power.

Skills and qualifications

Adverts ask for a degree in finance, economics, engineering, or mathematics, often with Python and SQL. Each desk wants its own market's rules: ERCOT or PJM in the US, AEMO's dispatch engine in Australia, the Irish SEM, or the Nordic reserve markets (FCR, aFRR, mFRR). Risk roles add value at risk, ETRM systems (trade capture and risk software), and EMIR and REMIT reporting.

Graduates start as optimisation or trading analysts (Good Energy recruits STEM graduates), junior traders (Enel in Houston), or in the mid-office (Caely Renewables). OTC FLOW wants a finance background and commercial drive for sales traders, not quantitative skills.

What is changing

Since 1 October 2025, Europe's day-ahead auction has set a price for every 15 minutes instead of every hour. With four times as many products to price, desks automate: Alpiq is recruiting a head of algorithmic trading governance, and Ingrid Capacity hires traders to monitor and tune its algorithms. In October 2026, volumes on EPEX SPOT's intraday markets were 32% higher than a year earlier (EEX Group).