A day in the life of a Cross Border & Energy Manager

Introduction​

"Moin! I am Menno, and I have been part of Statkraft’s Short-Term Energy and Cross-Border Trading team since 2017."​

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Typical morning​

"My day usually begins with dropping the kids off at kindergarten and school, then heading to the office, or working from home. I start by reviewing the current asset fleet, checking price developments, renewable forecasts, and weather updates. Sometimes, we already spot early trading signals during this time."​

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Our shift setup​

"Our team works in two alternating shifts: Dispatch and Cross-Border Trading (XB)."​

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Dispatch shift​

"During this shift, I work closely with colleagues managing our German assets, such as gas-fired power plants, hydro pump storage, and biomass facilities. We coordinate planned maintenance and handle bidding for the output of our asset fleet across several European markets. Deadlines are tight, with market bids due between 09:00 and 12:00, making it a fast-paced environment. Processing results keeps us busy until around 14:00."​

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Cross-border trading shift​

"Here, I forecast hourly power prices across Europe using tools like Excel, Python, and external platforms. We manage bidding on day-ahead transfer capacity, various spot exchanges, and nominate energy flows across borders with explicit rights."​

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Midday to afternoon​

"Lunch typically starts at 12:00, followed by result processing and the next round of bidding and nominations starting around 12:45. The rest of the day involves further bidding activities, gas purchasing decisions for our gas-fired plants, and asset nominations. On weekends, both shifts are combined, and we operate between 08:00 and 15:00."​

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Beyond Shift Work​

Outside of operational shifts, I also handle projects, calculate P&L (profits and losses), and process invoices. By around 15:30, I switch into parent mode, picking up the kids and driving them to their activities. Luckily, my wife and I split the chauffeuring duties!