05.07.2009

The spark spread reflects the costs or anticipated costs of producing power from a specific facility. It can be used as a method of converting millions of Btus to megawatt hours and vice versa, and thus relates well to the electricity and natural gas futures contracts. The spread is simply the heat rate of a specific generating unit or power system (the number of Btus needed to make one kilowatt hour of electricity), multiplied by the cost of energy expressed as dollars per British thermal units (Btus). The usefulness of the spread evaluation is dependent on the market price for power which reflects the relationship of the supply and demand for power, not the efficiencies of the generating units. Other costs affecting the price of power using the spark spread evaluation include those of gas transportation, power transmission, plant operations and maintenance, and fixed costs.

Gap between what energy producing countries can / are supplying and global consumption. If for instance OPEC is down in 2008 to a spare capacity of 2.5 million b/d, there is hardly any safety margin to counteract against supply interruptions on the one hand and demand spikes on the other to ensure price stability

A measure of signal strength relative to background noise. The ratio is usually measured in decibels (dB). >

Sorry, this entry is only available in עברית.