German nEHS
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National Emissions Trading System (Germany) - nEHS
EEX is pleased to have been mandated to facilitate the auction and sale of nEHS certificates (nEZ) on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany from 2026 onwards. EEX will continue to sell the nEZ during the fixed price phase (2021 to 2025), including post-purchases of nEZ 2025, until the end of September 2026.
Overview of the sale and auctioning of nEZ
The following table contains the timeline for the further sale of nEZ within the national emissions trading scheme, in accordance with the requirements of the BEHG and the BEHV (in the version valid from 16 September 2025):
| Item | Period | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sale of nEZ 2025 | Until the beginning of December 2025 (for exact dates see nEHS sales calendar) | Sale of nEZ 2025 at the price of €55 /nEZ in unlimited quantities |
| Post-purchases of nEZ 2025 | Up to September 2026 (for exact dates see nEHS sales calendar) | Post-purchases of nEZ 2025 at a price of €55/nEZ in limited quantity (up to 10% of the account balance of the corresponding compliance account as of 31 December 2025) |
| Auction of nEZ within the set price corridor | July to October 2026 (Exact dates and quantities will be published at least two months before the start of the auction.) | Auction of nEZ 2026 within the price corridor, with a minimum price of €55 /nEZ and a maximum price of €65 /nEZ. The auction volume follows the requirements of § 11 (1) BEHV. According to the BEHV, the auctions of nEZ 2026 will take place in 2026 within the regulated market of EEX. Participants who have so far only been admitted participating in the sale of nEZ outside the regulated market, and who wish to participate in the auction as a direct participant in the regulated market, must apply for a corresponding admission to the EEX/ECC (see section on admission to auction in 2026 below for details). |
| Sale of nEZ 2026 | November and December 2026 (Exact sale dates will be published in the nEHS sales calendar for 2026) | Sale of nEZ 2026 in accordance with the current requirements of the BEHV (currently for €68 /nEZ) in unlimited quantities ("surplus quantity"). Participants who are already eligible to participate in nEHS sales outside the regulated market for the fixed-price period 2021 to 2025 will also remain eligible to participate in nEHS sales for compliance years from 2026 onwards. |
| Post-purchases of nEZ 2026 in 202 | Up to August 2027 (Exact sale dates will be published in the 2027 nEHS sales calendar) | Post-purchases of nEZ 2026 in accordance with the current requirements of the BEHV (currently for €70 /nEZ) in a limited amount. Post-purchases are limited to 10% of the amount of nEZ held in the compliance account as of 31 December of the previous year. |
Note: Due to recent political developments, a postponement of the start of compliance obligations under EU ETS 2 to 2028 is expected, however it has not yet been formally decided. Once the legislative process at the European level is formally concluded, this information will be updated accordingly.
From 2027 onwards, most of the emissions currently covered by the German national emissions trading system (nEHS) will be transferred to the European EU ETS2. For emissions remaining within the scope of the German National Emissions Trading Scheme after 2027, nEZ would be sold in accordance with the provisions of the applicable version of the BEHV. Under the current version of the BEHV, in such cases, the sale of nEZ for 2027 (or 2028) will begin in the third quarter of 2027 (or 2028) at a market-based price. This price will be calculated as the volume-weighted average auction price of EU ETS 2 emission allowances from the penultimate preceding quarter.
If the introduction of EU ETS 2 is postponed to 2028 under Article 30k(2) of Directive 2003/87/EC, nEZ in 2027 will be sold in accordance with the BEHV at the volume-weighted average auction price of allowances (“EUAs”) under §10 (1) of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Act from the penultimate preceding quarter. In this case, the sales of nEZ 2027 would start in the third quarter of 2027.
Auction in 2026
In 2026, nEZ will be auctioned within a price corridor of €55 /nEZ to €65 /nEZ. According to current plans, the auctions will take place between July and October 2026. If an earlier start becomes possible, this will be announced in due time. In accordance with the BEHV, nEZ auctions in 2026 will be conducted within the regulated market. The exact auction design is defined by the BEHV. Below is a summary of the key points:
Volume
The auction volume follows the requirements of version of the §11 (1) BEHV.
The total auction volume will be published by the DEHSt on its website by 30 April 2026.
Dates
In 2026, auctions of nEZ will take place once per week, with at least a two-hour gap following the primary market auction in EU ETS 1. According to current plans, the auctions will be held between July and October 2026. Should an earlier start be possible, this will be announced in good time. The provisional auction dates and volumes will be published by EEX no later than two months before the start of the auctions.
Participation in the auctions
Learn more about how to participate in the auctions in the section "Admission to participate in the auction".
Participants who are eligible will be able to participate via the existing nEHS sales platform.
Auction - at a glance
| Minimum price per bid | €55.00 /nEZ |
| Maximum price per bid | €65.00 /nEZ |
| Minimum quantity per bid | 1 nEZ and integer multiples thereof |
| Bid quantity limit | The sum of the individual bids of a single bidder per delivery account may not exceed 50% of the auction volume scheduled for that auction date. |
| Auction format | Unit price procedure: All successful bidders pay the same auction price. Black Box: Bids are submitted without seeing the bids of the other participant. |
Determination of the result of the auction
All successful bids will be allocated at the auction clearing price, which is determined as follows (in accordance with the BEHV, in particular § 12):
- Bids are sorted in descending order of price bid.
- Bid quantities are added together starting with the highest bid; the price at which the sum of the bid quantity equals or exceeds is the auction clearing price.
- All bids with a higher price than the auction clearing price are successful.
- If the sum of the bids at the auction clearing price is higher than the remaining auction volume, each of these bids will be allocated in proportion (pro rata) to the remaining auction volume to the total bid quantity at the auction clearing price.
- As long as the remaining auction volume prior to an auction date corresponds to at least one third of the total auction volume for 2026, the so-called €65 rule also applies (BEHV §12 paragraphs 4 and 5).
Publication of the auction clearing price
After the auction, EEX informs the public within a maximum of five minutes about the auction clearing price and the quantity of the auctioned nEZ. Within a maximum of 15 minutes, further key figures on the results of the auction will be published on EEX website.
Cancellation
Auctions are cancelled if the aggregated volume of the bids submitted is falling below the auction volume. The cancellation is ordered in accordance with Section 7 (3) BEHV or the auction platform is technically unavailable.
In the event of cancellation, a new date will be announced with a shortened notice period of at least one week.
Overview: Possibility of procuring nEHS
There are several ways to obtain the required number of nEZ:
- Through an intermediary (either at auction or by purchasing nEZ at a fixed price).
- Direct participation in the auction (see below) on the regulated market.
- Direct participation in the sale of nEZ (currently outside the regulated market).
- By acquiring nEZ on the over-the-counter secondary market (see section "Secondary Market").
Intermediaries
The following companies have informed us of their plans to offer market access for the auctions of nEZ. This information will be regularly updated over the coming weeks and months. Details of the offerings can be found in the table below.
Note: A prerequisite for direct participation in the auction is membership in the regulated market of EEX as well as membership as an NCM or DCP participant with ECC. For transparency, we would like to point out that not all the companies listed below currently meet these requirements, as some are still in the admission process. A current list of approved trading participants of EEX can be found here, and a current list of ECC members can be found here.
ACT Financial Solutions B.V.
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Advantag GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
BayernLB
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
CELSIUS Climate Solutions GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
CFP Commodities Ltd
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Emissionshändler.com
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Energie Quader GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
envia Mitteldeutsche Energie AG
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
EWE TRADING GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
FutureCamp Climate GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
KES Kommunale Energiedienstleistungsgesellschaft Südsachsen mbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
KlimaInvest Green Concepts GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Macquarie Bank Limited
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Marex Financial Limited
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
MB Energy Holding GmbH & Co. KG
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
optimization engineers GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Pfalzwerke Aktiengesellschaft
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
RWE Supply & Trading GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Südwestdeutsche Stromhandels GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Trianel GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Vattenfall Energy Trading GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Vertis Environmental Finance Ltd.
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
VNG Handel & Vertrieb GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
The following companies currently act as intermediaries, offering market access for the sale of nEZ to support all obligated companies.
Intermediaries for nEHS*
ACT Financial Solutions B.V.
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Advantag GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
AGRAVIS Raiffeisen AG
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
badenova Energie GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
BayernLB
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
BKW Energie AG
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
CELSIUS Climate Solutions GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
CFP Commodities Ltd
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
DeESA GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
EEG Energie- Einkaufs- und Service GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Emissionshändler.com
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Emissionshandelsgesellschaft Michael Pohlmann GmbH & Co. KG
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
To the website of Emissionshandelsgesellschaft Michael Pohlmann GmbH & Co. KG
Energie Quader GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
envia Mitteldeutsche Energie AG
Further information are available here (link to the Download section).
E.ON Energy Markets GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
espot GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
EWE TRADING GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
FutureCamp Climate GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Gößwein-Gas GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
KES Kommunale Energiedienstleistungsgesellschaft Südsachsen mbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
KlimaInvest Green Concepts GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Macquarie Bank Limited
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Marex Financial Limited
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
MB Energy Holding GmbH & Co. KG
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
NetzWerkStadt GmbH & Co. KG
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
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For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
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optimization engineers GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Pfalzwerke Aktiengesellschaft
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Quantum GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
RWE Supply & Trading GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Sachsen Energie AG
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Südwestdeutsche Stromhandels GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Syneco Trading GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Trianel GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Vattenfall Energy Trading GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
Vertis Environmental Finance Ltd.
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
VNG Handel & Vertrieb GmbH
For further information, please see below the detailed intermediary list.
*The list is constantly updated.
Download
| Title | Type | Category | Publishing date | File |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| List of Intermediaries | Documents | nEHS market | 2025-12-23 | xlsx (34 KB) |
Admission to participate in the auction
As an alternative to using intermediaries for auctions, obligated companies may apply for direct admission to EEX and ECC. For direct admission to exchange trading at EEX/ECC, the legislator imposes strict requirements to safeguard the integrity of the regulated market. These requirements are typically met by large trading companies and financial institutions.
Due to the relatively high administrative, operational, and financial costs involved in obtaining direct admission to EEX and ECC, access via intermediaries is generally more advantageous for companies with low to medium demand for nEZ. This principle has been applied since 2010 in auctions under the European Emissions Trading System 1 (EU ETS 1) and will also apply to EU ETS 2 in the future.
Prerequisites for direct participation in the auction include:
- Admission to the regulated market of EEX, and additionally
- Membership with ECC as a Non-Clearing Member (NCM) or Direct Clearing Participant (DCP).
For admission to EEX, at least one trader must be registered who has either passed the exchange trader examination or has experience in exchange trading.
Participation in the auction as a DCP-nEHS participant is not possible, as this membership type is specifically designed for the sale of nEZ outside the regulated market and is not compatible with auctions on the regulated market.
EEX Admission
The following EEX membership options enable both direct participation in the auction of nEZ in 2026 and participation in the sale of nEZ:
- EEX Full Membership
- EEX Power Plus Membership
- EEX Natural Gas Plus Membership
- Environmental and Emerging Markets Membership
- EEX nEHS auction & sale only Membership
For an overview of each membership option and the products included, see here. Information on EEX membership fees can be found in the EEX price list.
ECC Admission
The following types of ECC membership allow both direct participation in the auction of nEZ in 2026 and participation in the sale of nEZ:
- Participation in the clearing process for Non-Clearing Members (NCM) via an ECC Clearing Member.
- As a fallback option: Membership as a DCP Clearing Member. For DCP participants, an individual position limit applies for each auction session. The maximum limit (“Cap Limit”) is determined by the risk classification of the respective DCP participant, which is defined by ECC during the admission process. The position limit is capped at €75 million per auction session.
Information on ECC fees related to admission or membership as an NCM or DCP participant can be found in the ECC price list.
Submission of admission documents
On 7 November 2025, EEX published a customer information on the admission to the auction.
If you would like more information about the options and the admission process at ECC and EEX, please contact the EEX Sales Team (sales@eex.com or +49 341 2156-555). For further questions regarding admission documents, please contact EEX Customer Care (nehsadmission@eex.com or +49 692 1115-566).
Although applications for admission can be submitted to EEX/ECC on an ongoing basis, if the application and the necessary actions for further processing are not completed by the dates listed below, EEX/ECC cannot guarantee timely admission by 1 July 2026, the planned start date of the auctions, due to the expected high volume of simultaneous applications:
- For new participants seeking one of the following EEX memberships: Full Membership / Power Plus Membership / Natural Gas Plus Membership / Emerging and Environmental Markets Membership: 1 December 2025
- For new participants seeking “nEHS Auction and Sales Only” membership: 1 February 2026
The term “new participants” also includes companies that participated in the fixed-price phase from 2021 to 2025 but are not yet members of the regulated EEX market (“DCP-nEHS participants”).
Existing NCMs or DCPs already admitted to the regulated EEX market that participated in the sale of nEZ from 2021 to 2025 will be automatically admitted to the auctions unless they explicitly object in writing by 1 March 2026.
NCMs or DCPs admitted to the regulated EEX market but not yet to the nEHS market may apply for this admission by 1 March 2026 through a product extension in the Customer Portal.
Admission to the sale of nEHS
As an alternative to using intermediaries for participation in the sale of nEZ outside the regulated market, obligated companies may apply for direct admission. For direct admission to EEX/ECC, the legislator imposes strict requirements to protect market integrity. These include, for example, reviews of the participant’s business model and checks on acting and responsible people to prevent money laundering and fraud. Such requirements are typically met by large trading companies and financial institutions.
Considering key factors overall—such as lower one-time and annual administrative costs, faster market access, portfolio effects for repurchases, and additional services on one side, versus lower fixed and variable fees and higher insolvency protection on the other—the use of an intermediary is advantageous for companies that only occasionally participate in the sales process or have a low to medium demand for nEZ. This principle has been applied since 2010 in auctions under the European Emissions Trading System 1 (EU ETS 1) and will also apply in the future to EU ETS 2.
Sale
| Title | Type | Category | Publishing date | File |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Information on nEHS Sales Platform Video | Documents | nEHS market | 2024-07-23 | csv (151 B) |
| Information on nEHS Sales Platform Document | Documents | nEHS market | 2021-10-04 | pdf (84 KB) |
| Sample Payment Request | Documents | nEHS market | 2023-01-06 | pdf (106 KB) |
| Sample Invoice Report | Documents | nEHS market | 2024-07-23 | pdf (55 KB) |
Supporting Climate Protection
Peter Reitz, CEO of EEX
“In European carbon markets, EEX has been active for many years as a central auction and trading platform. We are very pleased to have been appointed as a service provider for the German nEHS, as this gives us the opportunity to leverage our experience and expertise to support climate protection in additional sectors where Germany is a pioneer.”
More information about the National Emissions Trading System (nEHS)
Secondary Market
During the fixed-price phase and the auctions, EEX does not offer an exchange-based secondary market for nEZ. However, within the over-the-counter (OTC) secondary market, it is generally possible to purchase or sell nEZ with maturities from previous years.
Some companies that act as intermediaries providing market access for acquiring nEZ also offer brokerage services for nEZ with previous-year maturities. These companies are specifically marked in the “Detailed Intermediary List,” which can be accessed on this page.
In addition, our strategic partner q-bility offers the possibility to trade nEZ with previous-year maturities on its trading platform. Participants can post buy and sell requests for nEZ on the platform to receive price offers. If both parties agree on a transaction via the platform, they can subsequently enter into a bilateral contractual agreement.
