Joint gas purchases in the EU: assessment and outlook for next winter

The European Commission (EC) has given a positive assessment of the results following the third round of joint natural gas purchasing for EU member states and Energy Community countries. It plans to continue joint purchasing, but would welcome more information about the volumes of gas contracted between buyers and sellers after tenders on the AggregateEU joint purchasing platform, a senior EC official said at a Eurogas discussion, according to S&P Platts. The EC is also assessing other measures to secure gas supplies for the coming winter.

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU adopted the REPowerEU plan in May 2022. It sets out a package of measures to save energy, produce clean energy and diversify energy supplies, with the aim of strengthening Europe’s strategic resilience and reducing its dependence on Russian gas imports.

EU Energy Platform – why it was created and how it works

One of the measures was the creation of the EU Energy Platform, intended to enable joint gas purchases, make the most efficient possible use of existing infrastructure and expand international reach. The platform’s key tool is AggregateEU, which aims to aggregate demand and support more coordinated natural gas purchasing at the European level. It is operated by service provider Prisma European Capacity Platform GmbH.