Trading-as-a-service: Four core principles for turning data into winning short-term power trades

The physical layout of power trading floors may look the same as it did a decade ago, but the day-to-day workflow has transformed entirely. Short-term power trading has moved from manual, intuition-based practices to fast-paced, data-driven, and technology-supported strategies.

This is where trading-as-a-service (TaaS) comes in. For independent power producers (IPPs) and energy offtakers alike, TaaS helps unlock value in volatile short-term power markets.

However, not all TaaS solutions are created in the same way. At Dexter Energy, we’ve been developing our TaaS solutions since 2017, helping energy companies across Europe improve their trading performance, reduce balancing costs, and unlock new revenue streams.

In this article, we introduce the four core principles that define our approach.

1. Value data – and build the right infrastructure

It all starts with data: storing, organizing, processing, and ensuring the quality of ever-growing volumes is no small feat.

To deliver high-performing forecasts and trading strategies, we process data from multiple sources, including raw weather data, market signals, and customer production actuals. We interpret over ten weather models (including proprietary ones), store every historical forecast in full-gridded resolution, and archive all data versions to guarantee perfect backtesting.

Behind the scenes, we’ve built a robust infrastructure to support machine learning at scale, with automatic anomaly detection and a human-in-the-loop process to ensure clean, consistent data. It’s the kind of work that often goes unnoticed, because when done right, everything just works.

2. Think like a power trader

We design our solutions with a trader’s mindset, which we can summarize in three key principles:

• Timing is critical – Being right on average isn’t enough; you need to make the right decisions at the moments with the highest financial impact. Our models adapt quickly to market changes and account for extreme events, such as weather-driven power losses.
• Market impact matters – Trading decisions influence the market itself. If all market players used the same price forecast, expected profits would flip to losses. Our strategies factor in market impact so our customers can extract the most value from our trading signals.
• A point forecast isn’t enough – Point forecasts alone don’t provide a full view of uncertainty. Instead of relying on a single estimate, we incorporate probabilistic forecasts into our models, offering a range of possible outcomes.

3. Don’t compete with customers

We’ve deliberately chosen not to trade ourselves using portfolio knowledge from our customers and have not built a setup that would allow us to do so. Instead, we provide bidding strategies via an easy-to-use API, while our customers execute the trades. As a result, they always benefit from the trading income we generate.

Some optimizers both trade on their own books and offer trading services to customers, which we see as a potential conflict of interest.

4. Build long-term partnerships

We prioritize long-term, like-minded partnerships over one-off service agreements.

Because market depth is limited, we work with a select number of companies in each country, ensuring that we can optimize trading performance without impacting the market.

We also co-develop features, tailor strategies, and grow together with our partners.

There’s more

At Dexter, our focus is on delivering maximum value for our customers. By 2030, we aim to generate an annual added value of €1 billion for our partners. If you share our vision for excellence in short-term trading, let’s start a conversation.

If you’re exploring TaaS – or looking to benchmark your current provider – download our white paper for a deeper dive into our core principles, a checklist of what to look for, and practical tips on evaluating your options.