German Single Market Website Launched

German network operators and hubs jointly announced the launch of a website to inform traders and the public about the planned introduction on October 1 2021 of a single German gas trading area.

The new website www.marktgebietszusammenlegung.de is now available online and in English, the 15 transmission system operators (TSOs) and Germany's two existing hub operators said September 24-25.

"In launching the website, the German TSOs in close collaboration with the current market area managers have taken a first step to initiate a continuous market information process," said one of their number, Ontras: "The aim is to provide a platform on which current information relating to the process for the creation of the single German market area can be published in a timely and transparent manner."

The existing two hubs, run by Berlin-based Gaspool and Ratingen-based NetConnect Germany (NCG), will merge – according to current plans – on October 1 2021.

The planned date was announced by TSOs and the German networks regulator BNetzA in June 2018 and is six months earlier than an April 2022 deadline originally set by the German government for this. France meanwhile will switch from two to a single gas market zone on November 1 2018, barring unforeseen circumstances, following a confirmation notice by the largest French TSO, GRTgaz, on August 29. 

Term contracts in European gas markets typically count October 1 as the first day of the contract year, for determining annual quantities and so on.