The EU Energy Platform for joint gas procurement will launch on 25 April via the AggregateEU service (see EUROPE 13151/3), the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy said.
Companies from the Member States and the Energy Community’s Contracting Parties (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and Ukraine) had until 20 April to apply via the service provider Prisma.
“The more participants, the more likely we are to find interesting gas offers”, explained the Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič, who is leading the EU energy platform’s work.
The demand submitted by a company will be aggregated and matched with offers from vendors in a tender that will take place every two months for the next 12 months.
The aim is to offer the possibility, especially for small entities, to secure a stable gas supply at lower prices by accessing new markets and suppliers.
If purchasing gas by companies is voluntary, the Member States must ensure that local companies apply for the equivalent of 15% of each Member State’s gas tank filling obligations, as set out in the Gas Storage Regulation. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)