GEN-I: a journey of ongoing growth

GEN-I has been expanding across Europe since its launch in 2005 and is in the preparatory phase to expand its presence globally, writes Pauline McCallion

The increase in renewable energy generation across Europe and the US in recent years has led to a rise in new flexible assets to help manage the resulting price volatility. For clean electricity supplier GEN-I, these market dynamics have led to a wider focus on assets and geography.

The company, which began supplying customers in Slovenia in 2005, is now the country’s largest supplier of electricity – carbon-free since 2021 – and trades in 25 other countries across Europe.

GEN-I’s wider presence was reflected in its performance in the 2025 Energy Risk Commodity Rankings, in which it ranked as the number one energy dealer and number one power dealer, gaining first places in Central Eastern and South Eastern European power markets.

GEN-I is now laying the groundwork for its next significant milestone – entry to the  US power markets. “This is a significant step for GEN-I because we will become a global commodity trader,” says GEN-I’s trading director Jan Bohinec. “And we see a lot of synergies, especially because gas markets today are very global.”

Bohinec does not expect markets to feel much relief this year from the impact of recent geopolitical events such as the Russia/Ukraine conflict or US tariffs. But he believes GEN-I’s growing footprint and a focus on helping its employees develop their skills will provide a firm foundation for the energy company and its partners.

How did you tackle the challenges facing energy markets last year?

Jan Bohinec: There were significant challenges, in particular heightened energy price volatility and supply chain disruptions, as well as geopolitical tensions.

We must also not forget the impact of significant renewables investments in 2024. The energy transition is playing a vital role in the European Union energy markets, with more renewables entering the energy mix. This affects the market, increasing hourly price volatility. We are seeing lower prices during solar peak hours and lower capture rates for solar power plants, as well as extremely expensive shoulder peak hours – especially in the evening.

Through mentorship, training and events, we foster a culture of continuous learning so our people’s expertise in data science and market analysis is constantly evolving.

Jan Bohinec, GEN-I

This sends signals to investors about which assets are needed, but it also underscores the value of robust risk management and flexible energy solutions. GEN-I responded by offering advanced hedging instruments and tailored power purchase agreements (PPAs) to help business partners navigate uncertainty. As our partners pay more attention to hourly profiles and asset flexibility, for example, we offer tailor-made products to manage and optimise flexible assets using our advanced analytical capabilities.

Does GEN-I’s virtual power plant help with this, too?

Jan Bohinec: Yes, we define the virtual power plant as an aggregate of decentralised energy resources such as solar, wind, prosumers and batteries. We have also integrated these assets into a cloud-based platform that allows for real-time monitoring and optimisation of those energy production and consumption units. We can use those assets for ancillary services, helping to enhance grid stability.

We have approximately 130 units on the platform, which is more than 200 megawatts of power. It currently operates in Slovenia, Croatia and Austria, but GEN-I is planning to expand it to some of our other priority markets: Romania and Bulgaria by the end of this year, and then Greece and Turkey during 2026. We have a longer-term plan to expand to Poland and Germany in two years.

GEN-I came first in the Central Eastern and South Eastern European power markets categories in this year’s Commodity Rankings. What is driving those markets currently?

Jan Bohinec: Those are leading markets for GEN-I, but they are very different. The Central Eastern markets are in the EU, while quite a lot of the South Eastern European markets are not. Non-EU countries obviously don’t follow EU laws and regulations – they don’t have emissions allowances, for example. They are preparing for a market coupling with the EU, but there is huge uncertainty for South Eastern Europe regarding the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). It will affect non-EU countries’ exports into the EU from 2026 onwards. It could effectively lower prices in those countries because there will not be enough buyers for exporting energy to the EU.

Production is already a little cheaper in those countries because they are not paying the emission allowances, but after the 2021–22 energy crisis, liquidity also vanished in many of the South Eastern European markets. Even now, we haven’t seen this liquidity pick up again, or at least it has been a very slow return.

See the full Commodities Rankings 2025 results

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How is GEN-I adapting its offering to meet these challenges?

Jan Bohinec: Again, flexibility is important. We offer merchant PPAs in these countries for batteries and tolling agreements for other flexible assets, such as gas power plants that can be used at a certain time of day to extract the biggest value out of the asset for their owners.

At the same time, we are also expanding to the west, because we cannot necessarily expect South Eastern liquidity to pick up significantly in the coming years. We moved into the Netherlands and Belgium in 2024, and we launched in the UK this year. We are also preparing to establish a trading floor outside Europe – in Houston, Texas – which would enable participation in the US Electric Reliability Council of Texas, PJM and Midcontinent Independent System Operator markets. Understanding what’s going on in the US will help us better understand what to expect in Europe, and vice versa.

What are your expectations for these markets in 2025 and beyond?

Jan Bohinec: There are several factors that will influence the European energy markets, including ongoing geopolitical tension, regulatory changes and the acceleration of the energy transition. The market is moving swiftly towards even greater use of renewable energy sources, and the need for energy security will also drive the market dynamics.

From a global point of view, Asian demand will definitely affect the European energy markets. Alongside that, we also need to see how the Russia/Ukraine conflict will end and what the epilogue to that will be.

Huge investments in batteries will also affect the markets going forward, and the only uncertainty there is how fast these batteries will be installed – how long it will take them to actually start affecting the market. California is a good reference point for this battery story because the state is already using them to cover up to 30% of peak consumption.

This timing will be greatly affected by grid connections. How many of these assets will the grid be able to accept? Transmission and distribution system operators across Europe must ensure the grid will be ready so the market can benefit from this flexibility.

In relation to this, on the demand side, rising demand for data centres and artificial intelligence technologies will also be major market drivers. Again, this is a question of when, and not if, this will have an effect. And electric vehicle adoption is also key, for example, in 2024, demand fell a little, but numbers are already picking up in 2025.

Finally, the CBAM will also affect the European market, and there’s still some uncertainty around this. For example, it is very hard to predict how imports from non-EU countries will be affected because there are still some questions around whether PPAs with renewables will be exempt.

How has GEN-I positioned itself to manage these trends, as well as the uncertainties the market is facing?

Jan Bohinec: We have invested in digitalisation and data-driven decision-making, which we see as a fundamental strategic advantage.

We also offer our partners tailor-made and advanced services and products, including merchant and corporate PPAs, tolling agreements and battery storage management. For the latter, a lot of investors may not have the necessary expertise to manage batteries. We add value by providing licensing, offtake and balancing of such assets – helping to make the most of this new flexibility.

Last but not least, at GEN-I we recognise our greatest strength is our people. We are committed to cultivating a dynamic, forward-thinking workplace that attracts top talent and empowers them to push the boundaries of what is possible in the energy markets today.

As well as building an international footprint, we are bringing many nationalities to our Ljubljana trading floor, where we have around 60 traders and 60 analysts right now. Through mentorship, training and events, we foster a culture of continuous learning so our people’s expertise in data science and market analysis is constantly evolving.

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