With Energy Trading Week Europe under way, one theme from recent conversations with European trading desks is that in the race to generate P&L, day ahead strategies seem to be overtaking the intraday desks in 2025.
Most proprietary trading teams still run day ahead and intraday desks separately, but the question of whether that structure is still optimal is getting louder – especially as the market faces one of its biggest structural changes in years.
Weather-driven repricings and renewable forecast shifts are key profit driver for many desks. Strong fundamentals, weather models, and flow analysis have consistently delivered P&L for those executing well around the auction.
With upcoming changes hitting the day ahead market in a matter of weeks, the importance of DA trading is about to increase even further:
From 30 September 2025, SDAC will switch to 15-minute MTUs across almost all European bidding zones, meaning instead of hourly blocks, DA power will be traded in quarter-hourly intervals.
For trading houses and prop desks, this shift is a game-changer:
- Forecasting needs to be more granular, with load, wind, and solar models delivering at 15-minute resolution
- Execution systems must handle more product variety and send more orders, faster
- P&L potential may increase as volatility appears inside the hour — but so will risk
Firms that have strong DA modelling, risk management, and systems will be better placed to monetise these changes.
Intraday: Algo-dominated, HFT-driven, execution-focused
Intraday markets are now a race for speed. Algorithmic trading and HFT-style strategies dominate, capturing micro-moves in seconds. Liquidity is fragmented across multiple 30- and 15-minute products, and discretionary opportunities are thin.
Asset-backed players: batteries, DR, flexible gas, capture a large share of intraday volatility thanks to real-time telemetry and dispatch rights. Prop desks without assets must rely on automation and execution discipline to compete for the micro-moves that remain.
The rise of HFT in intraday is a key reason why firms are prioritising automation, low-latency execution, and hybrid trader profiles who can operate across forecasting, execution, and risk management.
Are we moving toward merged desks?
Several European prop firms are questioning whether separate DA and ID teams still make sense. A combined desk could:
- Give traders responsibility across DA and ID horizons, improving risk transfer and capital allocation
- Create real-time feedback loops between forecasters, quants, and execution traders, allowing quicker reactions
- Capture cross-market opportunities, especially outside CWE where inefficiencies last longer
- Put more value on hybrid profiles – traders who can forecast, execute, and work with automation end-to-end
The upcoming SDAC change to 15-minute MTUs is likely to accelerate this conversation. DA will become more granular and more volatile, blurring the line between DA and intraday.
Opportunities beyond CWE
Liquidity in CWE remains the most competitive, which is why some desks are allocating more risk to Nordic, Iberian, and Eastern European markets where price dislocations last longer. Firms that link DA insight with intraday execution could be best positioned to monetise cross-market spreads before signals are fully priced.
Talent market implication
Power trading firms have spent the last few years building intraday teams, and now with the 15-minute DA shift and the rise of algorithmic strategies, they are looking for day ahead and quant traders who can work alongside automation to stay competitive rather than fight against it
Alicia Hutchinson, Head of Energy Trading Charles Levick
- Day ahead capabilities are a priority: Firms are hiring forecasters, meteorologists, and quants to upgrade their DA models to 15-minute resolution ahead of the SDAC switch.
- Tech and Data roles are strategic: Data engineers, platform specialists, and API developers are being brought closer to the desk to ensure signals feed directly into execution engines and low-latency strategies.
- Intraday traders must be tech-enabled: Lean intraday teams are focusing on traders who can manage algos, intervene when models need human judgement, and compete in the HFT-driven environment.
- Hybrid profiles are increasingly valuable: Candidates who can operate across horizons, collaborate with quants and engineers, and translate strategy into execution are in highest demand…especially as firms consider merging DA and ID desks.
Looking Ahead
2025 is shaping up as a pivotal year for European short-term power trading. The move to 15-minute MTUs will make DA more granular, more volatile, and potentially more profitable- but only for firms that have the people, models, and systems ready to handle it.
Firms that connect DA insight with fast, algorithm-driven intraday execution and explore markets beyond CWE will have a distinct competitive advantage. Traders and quants who develop hybrid skills and fluency with automation are positioning themselves for the next phase of growth in European power markets.
At Charles Levick we are helping clients build teams capable of competing across horizons and working with traders who want to capitalise on these structural changes.
