Since the European Commission set up the EU Energy Platform in the spring of 2022, it has been a central part of the EU’s efforts to boost its energy security and accelerate its diversification away from Russian gas.
As presented by the Executive Vice-President of the Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, the third tender for the common purchase of gas brought a record in aggregated demand: 16,49 billion cubic metres, based on requests submitted by 39 European companies.
“This proves that companies are interested in the joint purchase of gas as an opportunity to improve the security of supply and negotiate better prices,” he said. “The supplies offered amounted to 18.1 billion cubic metres of gas. This is similar to the first round where the amount reached 18.7 bcm and represents an increase on the second round, which reached 15.19 bcm. In turn, the Platform matched 11.86 billion cubic meters of demand.”
Overall, according to him, the EU Energy Platform is delivering consistently excellent results in aggregating demand and coordinating the purchase of natural gas. The total supplier bids of the three tenders amount to more than 50 billion cubic metres. And the total demand matched is now more than 34 bcm.
“A system that works should be a system that stays,” underlined Mr Šefčovič, recalling also the recent speech of President Ursula von der Leyen, when she said that it is important to look at how we can best replicate this success by using the joint purchase of gas as a blueprint for other strategic commodities, such as clean energy or raw materials.
