Power & Commodities
Baseload vs Peakload Products
Baseload delivers all hours; peakload focuses on high-demand hours. Shape risk is the difference between them.
Mental model
The delivery shape matters because a flat product does not match a demand profile that concentrates in peak hours.
Baseload products cover every hour in a period, while peakload contracts cover only specific hours (e.g. weekdays 08–20).
The same underlying spot process can generate very different average prices for base and peak blocks.
Explore the mechanism
How does changing the delivery-hour block change the price and hedge of the same calendar period?
This diagram shows hourly spot prices for a stylised day and the average price of baseload (all hours) and peakload (selected hours). Use the controls to change intraday shape and peak block definition and see how the base–peak spread moves.
Baseload is the 24-hour average of the spot curve, while peakload averages only the high-demand window. The same spot process can give very different base and peak prices if intraday shape is strong.
From a risk perspective the key object is the base–peak spread: it measures shape risk rather than level risk. Hedging a peakload exposure with baseload futures leaves you exposed to changes in that spread, even if the overall level of the curve does not move much.
What to notice
Risk management must track base–peak spreads, because shape changes even when overall level stays similar.
Where it appears
- hedging retail power load
- comparing base and peak forward curves
- measuring residual shape exposure
Where the intuition breaks
What this view leaves out
- Base and peak blocks are market conventions; they rarely match a customer's realized hourly profile exactly.
Where this concept sits
Follow the strongest prerequisites, applications, extensions, and contrasts.
Connections for Baseload vs Peakload Products
Baseload and peakload products are coarse summaries of the richer hourly and seasonal forward-curve shape.
Supported byLoad Profile and Volume RiskA customer's realised load shape determines how well standard baseload or peakload hedges match consumption.
Supported byMerit Order and Supply StackThe shape of the supply stack and demand across hours helps explain why peak and off-peak power products have different economics.
Baseload and peakload products are coarse summaries of the richer hourly and seasonal forward-curve shape.
Explore concept →