Variance optimal hedging with application to Electricity markets

Abstract: In Electricity markets, illiquidity, transaction costs and market price characteristics prevent managers to replicate exactly contracts. A residual risk is always present and the hedging strategy depends on a risk criterion chosen. We present an algorithm to hedge a position for a mean variance criterion taking into account the transaction cost and the small depth of the market. We show its effectiveness on a typical problem coming from the field of electricity markets.