Introduction

If you’re active in the European energy markets, it should come as no surprise that NetConnectGermany and GasPool will become Trading Hub Europe (THE). It’s planned that THE will ‘go live’ with the start of the new gas year on October 1^st 2021.

From 2019 until now there have been 7 information sessions, colloquially called ‘market dialogues’, about the market area merger, or ‘marktgebietzusammenlegung’ in German.

Our business analysts attended the last public session 10/02/21 via livestream and we share some practical tips & tricks for those of you who missed it, or who just want a recap what’s going to happen the coming months.

Timeline overview

An image says more than a thousand words so here’s the graph of the timeline as presented during the last market dialogue:

We will go through these milestones in the paragraphs below and give additional information as to what’s expected from our clients, and what Energy One will take care of together with you.

Key milestones + what we expect from our clients

In this paragraph we will go through the key milestones/dates mentioned in the timeline above. We’ll summarize for key milestones:

1. What Energy One Belgium will do to facilitate
2. What we expect from our clients who are active on NCG and/or GPL

As mentioned in the market dialogue presentation regarding the transfer of balancing groups:

“All current Balancing Group contracts will remain unchanged and will be transferred to Trading Hub Europe (THE) and have the Trading Hub Europe nomenclature from 1^st of October 2021.“

Your account manager may have shared some information already these past weeks, but for those who didn’t get in touch yet the following may already answer some questions.

March 2021

Publication of the initial Balancing Group (Bilanzkreis) – mapping list. The existing balancing group codes will be mapped to new BG codes (Bilanzkreiscode), using Trading Hub Europe nomenclature.

Regarding market communications all active market partners of GPL & NCG will be migrated to Trading Hub Europe’s EDIFACT communication system. All market partners will receive an email with details on the web interface and THE’s AS2 profile of the email certificate.

What do we expect from our clients?:

We need your mapping codes (Bilanzkreiscodes). Maybe you want to simplify or change your BG structure. Please keep us updated with the latest list and other relevant information you receive from NCG and/or GasPool.

April 2021

Registration & configuration of existing market partners on the THE platform by the Market Area Managers GasPool and NetConnectGermany. NCG & GPL are planning to host several online events in april to explain key THE changes:

• Event focused on balancing services, MBI & capacity buy-back
• Event for balancing group managers
• Event for network operators

Regarding market communications the web-interface should go live, you should receive access/login details and there will be message tests with the market partner and possible corrections where needed.

What will Energy One do to facilitate?:

We will register for and attend these events to gather all relevant information. If you use our messaging & connectivity solutions, we will do the message tests on your behalf with THE. We will keep you informed throughout the process.

What do we expect from our clients?:

We advise you to attend the online information sessions. We will also expect your cooperation for the communications testing if necessary – see the chapter on market communication below.

1^st of June 2021

June will be a very important month as the THE customer portal goes live. What else happens?:

1. Restructuring of the balancing groups: Balancing Group Managers have 30 days to make changes to their balancing groups and sub-balancing groups, terminate existing contracts, or add new balancing groups. It’s also the only time where it is possible to find and correct any mistakes that may have sneaked in your contracts during configuration of the portal. We fully trust the Market Area Managers’ professionalism, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, so please double check each entry for your balancing groups!
2. Customer service will be provided by the new KVM (Customer & Contract Management) team of THE.

What will Energy One do to facilitate?:

Our staff is on hand to help with questions relating to the updates. Please keep us informed about all changes in contracts & balancing group set-up you make.

What do we expect from our clients?:

All active NCG & GPL customers will receive login details & instructions, please share these with us if you need assistance in managing the THE customer portal contracts.

You will have to double check all the balancing groups listed and ensure all data related to these groups reflects reality! Please read through the documentation in the Market Dialogue slides & on the website for full details on how to migrate balancing groups, set-up new ones and cancel old ones.

Last but not least you have to ensure your Balancing Group mapping is correct before the lock-up on 1^st of July!

Please be aware end customers at downstream grid have to be switched according to the GeLi Gas process to the new (Sub-)balancing group!

1^st of July 2021

BG Mapping is frozen & the final list is published by Trading Hub Europe. It will no longer be possible to cancel Balancing Groups until October 1^st 2021, due to the lock-up/notice period. The final mapping list is published & sent to Balancing Group Managers & the network operator.

Market Communication – key information & milestones

EDIFACT market communication will be handled separately for the NCG and GPL market areas. Any queries regarding EDIFACT communication should be addressed to the respective departments (KVM, DMT).

• GPL market area: by Customer & Contract Management Department (KVM) / THE office in Berlin
• NCG market area: by the Data Management Department (DMT) / THE office in Ratingen

We’ve already mentioned this in previous paragraphs, but here’s a nice overview of key dates for message testing, and setting up market communication lines with the new Market Area Manager – THE:

What will Energy One do to facilitate?:

We will register for and attend these events to gather all relevant information. If you use our messaging & connectivity solutions, we will do the message tests on your behalf with THE. We will keep you informed throughout the process.

What do we expect from our clients?:

Please keep us in the loop at all times: forward any login information if you rely on Energy One for your market communication. Also make key personnel available for clarifications if there are any issues regarding EDIFACT market communication.

New BG codes might be relevant also for systems pre- or post-interfacing with our software, so for these systems a test should be done jointly up in front to secure a smooth transition to THE.

Here’s a quick recap & important reminder regarding market communications until 30/09/2021:

The big day: 1^st of October 2021

All Balancing Groups are activated on THE. From the communication date 1 Oct. 2021, all EDIFACT market communication will take place exclusively with the MP ID via the new communication links of Trading Hub Europe.

The previous MP IDs of Gaspool and NetConnect Germany will no longer be used after 1 Oct. 2021 See the overview below.

Recap

Energy One Belgium is at the ready and our business analysts are following up with all parties. We ask the full cooperation from our clients to ensure a smooth transition. Since Energy One Belgium was founded we have transitioned our customers from 8 to 4 and 4 to 2 market areas in Germany, and we are confident this last merger will go smoothly as well.

We’ll be in touch!