The European Union is to launch its Energy Platform for the joint purchasing of natural gas, as the bloc prepares to fill storage to replace diminishing and unreliable Russian gas supplies ahead of winter.

The co-ordinated purchasing initiative is an attempt by the bloc to use its energy infrastructure more efficiently and increase bargaining power to allow the region’s buyers to secure stable volumes at lower prices on the global markets, according to the European Commission — the EU’s executive arm. It will be available from 25 April.

Companies from EU member states will be able to register with the service, as will contracting parties from the EU’s Energy Community — an initiative paving the way for a pan-European market beyond the EU borders, including Ukraine, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro and Serbia.

By pooling gas demand in the bloc, the Energy Platform is ultimately intended to exert downward pressure on gas prices.

Interested companies and contracting parties have until by 20 April to finalise their registration with the service provider — gas capacity trading platform Prisma — and subscribe to the AggregateEU service, according to the EC.

Expressions of demand submitted to the system will be aggregated and matched with sellers’ bids through a tender.

Each tendering round — held every two months for a year — will last about two weeks.

Both the type of delivery — such as liquefied natural gas or national balancing point — and the date should be indicated by a company when placing its gas demand, the EC added.

Bulk buying

Once registered, Energy Platform members will be required to pool at least 15% of their nation’s gas reserve obligations, as set out in the gas storage regulations.

The window to register demand for gas purchases will remain open until 2 May, then the procurement platform will match sellers and buyers.

EC President Ursula von der Leyen has tasked EC Vice President Maros Sefcovic with leading the work of the joint gas procurement scheme and the bloc’s latest attempt to ensure the EU’s energy security.

“The more participants we have, the higher the chances of finding attractive gas deals. Let us not forget that our energy-intensive industrial sectors have dubbed the past year as a year of survival,” Sefcovic said.

“High energy prices have forced many to keep production levels below capacity. We must reverse this trend.”

Sefcovic said in an earlier interview with Bloomberg that he expects the bloc’s 27 member states and three neighbouring countries to jointly purchase about 24 billion cubic metres of gas over the next three years, with first contracts to be signed with suppliers around June.

The launch of the EU’s Energy Platform came as Russian state-controlled gas giant Gazprom claimed that Europe will have difficulties in refilling its gas storage to last year’s levels, according to a report by Reuters news agency.

In a message on the Telegram social media platform, Gazprom said Europe had been helped by relatively mild weather. It added that filling gas storage to suitable levels “will be very difficult, given the politically motivated decisions aimed at refusing to import Russian pipeline gas”.

“The volume of gas available on the European market will be greatly affected by competition for LNG,” Gazprom said.