
NEW
Trading Hub Europe (THE)
On 1 October 2021, the previous market areas in Germany, GASPOOL (GPL) and NetConnect Germany (NCG), were merged into a new nationwide German gas market called Trading Hub Europe (THE).
Introducing Trading Hub Europe: THE
Germany to become one of the most liquid gas markets in Europe
Trading Hub Europe (THE) came about through the merger of the former market area managers GASPOOL Balancing Services GmbH and NetConnect Germany.
THE’s main areas of business include balancing group management, operation of the Virtual Trading Points, and system balancing.

EEX Group, supporting the German gas market merger
A close collaboration with market participants
Since 2017, and the decision to merge the two German gas markets, GASPOOL (GPL) and NetConnect Germany (NCG), EEX has been committed to support the German gas infrastructure providers, regulatory bodies and market participants in order to design a new robust and liquid nationwide gas market for Germany.
EEX has previously supported the merger of the French hubs TRS and PEG Nord into the common market area PEG, which boosted liquidity in the newly created nationwide French market
After a close consultation with market participants, EEX decided to enable the trading of Trading Hub Europe (THE) Futures within the existing NCG order books until end of September 2021. Since 1 October 2021, the NCG order markets at VTP have been renamed “THE” to continue Spot and Futures trading for the Trading Hub Europe market area. All trades executed on NCG to be delivered after the merger date are automatically delivered into THE.
Trading THE products on EEX
Admission process
Do Trading Participants need to renew their membership with EEX or ECC?
No, EEX transfers the membership automatically. Trading Participants admitted for trading in GPL or NCG will remain admitted for the new market area THE. EEX and ECC will use the Balancing Codes provided by THE as well as the current admission status of each Trading Participant to establish the trading setups as of 1 October 2021.
For more details, please refer to the table below.
EEX Trading Participants | ECC Clearing Member | ECC Non-Clearing Member | New member at EEX |
Already admitted Trading Participants for GPL and/or NCG will remain admitted for the German gas market area THE, without any actions required on members' side.
| The clearing licence for Clearing Members already covers the clearing of the renamed or new EEX THE Natural Gas products after the market area merger.
| All Non-Clearing Members currently admitted will remain admitted for the German gas market area THE, without any actions required on members' side. The automated transfer is implied until further notice.
| Member must request admission to EEX gas market THE
|
Do Trading Participants need to transfer their positions?
No, the current NCG and GPL contracts foresee already now fulfilment in THE. For technical reasons, the Open Interest in GPL and NCG contracts will be combined on Trading Day 29 September 2021. This will be done automatically and free of charge by our CCP ECC AG.
For more details, please refer the EEX contract specifications.
Will ECC or EEX increase their fees?
No, the merger of GPL and NCG will not change the prices of EEX nor ECC.
For more details, refer to
How to see and trade THE products?
Trading Participants will have to set up the new zonal EEX THE Natural Gas Spot Products into their Energy Trading and Risk Management software before end of September 2021.
- Users of the EEX Direct screen, Joule Direct and Gold Mapping clients of Trayport will get the new zonal products of THE automatically delivered in their workbooks in the production environment from 31 July 2021.
- Non-Gold mapping clients can contact Trayport for information and assistance during the configuration and mapping process.
How does the new THE product list look like?
Please click here
Downloads section | |||||
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2021-09-17 | EEX Gas Customer Information - Launch Information related to the German Gas Markets Merger on 1 October 2021 | pdf (143 KB) | |||
2021-09-17 | ECC Clearing Circular 36/2021 | Launch Information related to the German Gas Markets Merger on 1 October 2021 | pdf (216 KB) | |||
2021-09-08 | Implementation guide section 25 | pdf (715 KB) | |||
2021-06-14 | Clearing Circular 22/2021 | Third Information Package related to German Gas Market Merger on 1 October 2021 | pdf (283 KB) | |||
2021-06-14 | EEX Customer Information - Third Information Package related to the German Gas Market Merger on 1 October 2021 | pdf (245 KB) | |||
2021-06-10 | EEX trader workshop THE June 2021 | pdf (394 KB) | |||
2021-03-24 | EEX Customer Information - Further Information related to the German Gas Market Merger on 1 October 2021 | pdf (187 KB) | |||
2020-09-17 | EEX Customer Information - Tradability of THE German Gas Markets Merger | pdf (28 KB) | |||
2020-09-17 | EEX Press Release - EEX to enable trading for new German Gas market THE within existing NCG products | pdf (98 KB) | |||
2020-06-18 | EEX trader workshop THE - Final presentation June 2020 English version | pdf (421 KB) |