Amsterdam. Sixteen major European Transmission System Operators (TSOs) have taken the initiative to bundle their efforts and wide experience in the field of capacity booking platforms to move towards a joint European capacity platform. The alliance is formed by network operators from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany and the Netherlands. At the FLAME conference high-ranking representatives of the initiative today signed a Memorandum of Understanding defining the shape of this new capacity platform to meet future European market rules. These are described in the Network Code for Capacity Allocation Mechanism (NC CAM), which is currently being finalized at an EU level.

“Our alliance to deliver a joint capacity platform is a major step towards an integrated European gas market as intended by the European Third Energy Package”, the participating TSOs announced today. “The new initiative links gas markets in five different countries in the core of Europe. Thus, it opens new possibilities for cross-border gas transport to shippers, who will then be able to book capacities at European network points through one single tool.”

Günther Oettinger, European Commissioner for Energy: “This is a very promising step towards a single European internal gas market. The auctioning of bundled capacity is a key aspect of the network code, and I am pleased to see TSOs committed to making this work”.

The aim is to make the platform operational by April 2013. It will be able to handle different capacity products, offer auction mechanisms and serve different TSO backend systems. The platform will also have a secondary market function.

The initiative bundles the existing platform activities of all participating TSOs. Their comprehensive know-how covers the operation of three existing platforms in Europe: Capsquare, Link4Hubs as well as TRAC-X.