Commercial Offering

Third Party Access (TPA)

Seasonal and short-term fluctuations in the demand for gas can make supplying customers difficult. Sufficient gas storage capacity provides gas retailers the flexibility required to match fluctuations in demand and guarantee security of supply.

However, access to gas storage facilities in the Netherlands has traditionally been directly or indirectly in the hands of national monopolies, mainly due to the large quantities of indigenous Groningen gas. The national monopolies have developed facilities for their own needs or booked capacity in others’ facilities creating a disadvantage for new entrants in supplying gas to customers.

With the depletion of the Groningen gas reservoir, it is necessary that every supplier is able to enter the gas market to effectively supply customers. In a move to create a level playing field for these new entrants to supply gas to customers, the EU has required storage operators to provide all market parties equal access in cases where this is technically or economically necessary for supplying customers. 

A majority of the storage capacity available at Bergermeer Gas Storage will be made available to the market via Third Party Access. This means that Bergermeer Gas Storage will provide all interested companies transparent and non-discriminatory access to a majority of the storage capacity. This will ensure the degree of supply flexibility required for a properly functioning market.

Gas Storage Capacity

Bergermeer Gas Storage will be capable of storing 94.5 TWh of natural gas. Not all of this can be used for commercial storage since we need to retain a minimum level of gas to maintain pressure in the reservoir, so called ‘cushion gas’. Gazprom Export will provide the required 48.5 TWh of cushion gas. For delivering the cushion gas, Gazprom Group will receive a minority share of the total 46 TWh of storage capacity and an interest in the technical operatorship of the facility. The remaining amount of capacity will be offered to the market. 

The Bergermeer Gas Storage facility will begin operations in April 2014 with partial capacity. Full commercial operations are scheduled to start in April 2015.