Japan Power Analyst
Summary
Analyzes Japan’s electricity markets, building forecasting models for JEPX spot/forward prices and tracking fuel, policy, and grid factors that drive power costs.
Core responsibilities include:
- Building and maintaining supply/demand and price forecasting models for the Japan Electric Power Exchange (JEPX) spot and forward markets across regional grids (TEPCO, Kansai, Chubu, Kyushu, etc.).
- Monitoring the fundamental drivers of Japanese power prices, including nuclear restart schedules, LNG and coal fuel dynamics, renewable generation (solar/wind), interconnector flows, weather, and demand patterns.
- Tracking regulatory and structural changes (capacity market auctions, the balancing market, feed-in-tariff/FIP transitions, JERA and utility strategy, and METI/OCCTO policy developments) and assessing market impact.
- Generating trade ideas across spot, forwards, and cross-commodity (power vs. LNG/JKM, spark spreads) and sizing them within the desk's risk framework.
- Producing daily/weekly market commentary and maintaining real-time dashboards for the PM and traders.
- Collaborating with quant and technology teams to automate data pipelines and improve model infrastructure.
- Managing relationships with brokers, exchanges, and data vendors to strengthen information edge.
Qualifications
Required:
- 2–6 years of experience in power/energy markets, ideally with direct exposure to Japan or another liberalized Asian power market (a utility, IPP, trading house, bank, or fund).
- Strong understanding of electricity market fundamentals: dispatch economics, marginal pricing, fuel-to-power dynamics, and grid/transmission constraints.
- Proficiency in Python (or equivalent) for data analysis and modeling; comfort working with large time-series datasets.
- Solid grasp of the JEPX market structure and Japan's evolving regulatory landscape.
- Strong quantitative and analytical skills with the ability to work independently in a fast-paced, P&L-driven environment.
Preferred:
- Business-level Japanese (reading regulatory/utility disclosures a strong plus); English fluency required.
- Experience with statistical/ML forecasting techniques and time-series analysis.
- Familiarity with cross-commodity relationships (LNG/JKM, coal, carbon) and their linkage to Japanese power.
- Degree in a quantitative discipline (engineering, economics, math, physics, or similar).