Firms from Energy Community can now use EU’s joint gas purchasing platform

The Energy Community Secretariat has invited contracting parties to subscribe to AggregateEU, the European Union’s demand aggregation and joint purchasing mechanism.

AggregateEU is a demand aggregation and joint purchasing mechanism established by the European Commission to support EU countries and Energy Community contracting parties to ensure sufficient gas supplies for next winter.

EU member states are obliged to aggregate demand for volumes of gas equivalent to 15% of their respective storage filing obligations. Beyond the 15%, the aggregation will be voluntary but based on the same mechanism, the EU said earlier.

The first demand aggregation is planned in April, followed by the publication of the first tender for suppliers in May

Aggregate EU invites gas and industrial companies operating in the contracting parties of the Energy Community to subscribe to and utilize the platform, the secretariat said and added it is offering support.

The mechanism is operated by service provider Prisma European Capacity Platform.

The subscription process is a crucial step towards organizing the first demand aggregation in April, followed by the publication of the first tender for reliable international gas suppliers in May, the secretariat said.

According to the secretariat, joint gas purchasing will enable the EU to bring gas to Europe at more sustainable prices, fill up gas storages ahead of the next winter, and diversify its sources of supply as it completes the phaseout of Russian gas.

AggregateEU is a part of the EU Energy Platform

AggregateEU is a part of the EU Energy Platform, initiated in April 2022 following the mandate of the European Council in response to the need to diversify away from Russian gas.

It covers a range of actions regarding natural gas and liquefied natural gas – LNG (and, in the future, hydrogen) to support the EU’s security of supply and access to affordable energy, including international outreach, demand aggregation, and efficient use of EU gas infrastructures, according to the European Commission.

It wants the platform to coordinate EU action and negotiations with external upstream suppliers to prevent EU countries outbidding each other and at using the weight of the EU – as one of the biggest consumers of gas in the world – to achieve better conditions for all EU consumers.