The war in Ukraine continues – and with it the German gas worries. A company that most Germans may have never heard of is now playing a central role: Trading Hub Europe (THE). It’s supposed to secure our gas supply. At all costs.
It was almost a month ago that Climate Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) spoke to “Spiegel” journalists about his showering habits. “I’ve never showered for five minutes in my life. I’ll take a quick shower,” he said. Then it was about saving energy.
“I stick to what my ministry recommends,” said Habeck. “I have significantly reduced the time I take a shower again.” The background to these statements was the looming gas crisis even then. Because since Putin’s troops marched into Ukraine and he used natural gas as a means of exerting pressure on the West, fears of a cold winter have been raging in Germany.
What many do not know: There is a company that is supposed to prevent exactly that on behalf of the federal government. Its name is “Trading Hub Europe”, or THE for short. It is based in Ratingen in North Rhine-Westphalia, but also has a branch in Berlin.
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As the “market manager”, Trading Hub Europe coordinates the gas market in Germany. Eleven network companies founded the company on June 1, 2021, including bayernets GmbH, Fluxys TENP GmbH, GASCADE Gastransport GmbH and Gastransport Nord GmbH.
The various tasks of THE are listed on the company website. It not only operates a virtual trading point for natural gas, but also exchanges data with network operators and those responsible for balancing groups.
In addition, Trading Hub Europe is responsible for procuring control energy. This means energy for situations in which supply and demand differ and a physical balance must be created.
What is currently probably the most important task of THE is missing from the company directory. Since the troops of Russian President Vladimir Putin marched into Ukraine, attacking people and bombing streets and buildings, the company has become the federal government’s central gas instrument. To the gas hoarder.
The Federal Network Agency has commissioned Trading Hub Europe to buy natural gas for storage. For Habeck it is clear that Germany can only get through the winter with full storage facilities. And that just so nobody has to turn off the gas tap.
“Our goal is to get the gas storage tanks as full as possible,” says Heiko Bock in an interview with “Spiegel”. The 47-year-old, who is actually a chimney sweep by profession, is in charge of dispatching at THE. His current task is to buy large quantities of natural gas.
According to “Spiegel”, Bock and his team are to procure 504,000 megawatt hours of natural gas every day in order to fill the three central depots in Rehden, Wolfersberg and Peißen with natural gas. With a capacity of 3.9 billion cubic meters, Rehden is the largest gas storage facility in Germany. But do they succeed?
In fact, the German reservoirs were 70.4 percent full despite the sharply reduced delivery volumes from Russia on Wednesday, according to data from European gas storage operators. THE should play a decisive part in this.
But it is also true that the prices on the gas market are currently extremely high. One megawatt hour costs around 200 euros. Trading Hub Europe does not comment on how much money it costs to procure raw materials in total. According to estimates by the “Spiegel”, the company’s expenses are just under 100 million euros per day.
The fact that money is not an issue for THE is probably also due to the German development bank KfW, which supports the company with a 15 billion euro loan. And the fact that Trading Hub Europe does not have to repay the loan itself.
The “Spiegel” assumes that the coming gas surcharge will be used. This states that gas importers can pass on 90 percent of the increased purchasing costs to their customers from October 1st. In the end, the consumers most likely pay for the expensive purchases made by THE.
Ultimately, however, the company is not only active as a gas buyer – but should also help to save energy. The Federal Network Agency and the Federal Ministry of Economics are planning a project under which companies will be able to auction off natural gas that they do not need.
THE can buy the raw material if necessary. This should not only create an incentive for companies to save gas. The project should also help to further fill up the German gas storage facilities. The THE also supports the federal government in preparing for a gas shortage.
In spite of everything, managing director Thorsten Frank was modest in an interview with the “Wirtschaftswoche”. It is true that his company is becoming increasingly important in the energy crisis. Nevertheless, Frank sees THE more as a “supporter”. “We are not in the driving role,” he told the newspaper.
