TAQA Selects Navita Commodity Trading and Risk Management System for Bergermeer Gas Storage
27 September 2011, Abu Dhabi, UAE - Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA), a global energy company majority owned by the Abu Dhabi Government, today announced selecting the Navita Systems AS Pomax enterprise-class commodity trading and risk management (ECTRM) solution for TAQA’s Bergermeer Gas Storage in the Netherlands.
TAQA will utilise Pomax ECTRM for all front, mid and back-office activities related to gas trading and nominations at the Title Transfer Facility (TTF), the virtual trading point for natural gas in the Netherlands, and the Bergermeer Gas Storage flange.
TAQA plans to become a gas shipper with programme responsibility in early 2012 to support the execution of transactions for purposes related to Bergermeer Gas Storage operations. TAQA Gas Storage B.V, the contracting party for all Bergermeer Gas Storage operations, will not trade gas stored in Bergermeer Gas Storage for its own account.
Knut Johansen, CEO, Navita Systems AS, said: “This contract with TAQA testifies once again the position of Pomax ECTRM as a market-leading solution for managing the combination of standard trades, complex bilaterals and for managing physical gas contracts. On a personal note I am also happy to see that our intensive investments in Pomax the last two years are being appreciated by the European and the global wholesale gas markets. We are proud to have a global energy company such as TAQA become a customer.”
TAQA is currently offering a total of 11 TWh of storage capacity for periods of between 4 and 10 years in the 2011 Open Season. The start date of the capacity is April 2015 with partial capacity being offered between April 2014 and March 2015. Winning bids will be announced in December 2011.
The Bergermeer Gas Storage project will create Europe’s largest open access gas storage facility. In total, the facility will provide 46 TWh (4.1 billion cubic metres) of seasonal flexibility and almost double the Netherlands' existing underground natural gas storage capacity. The project plays an important role in the Dutch security of gas supply and the Dutch ambition to develop the gas hub for Northwest Europe. Commercial operations are expected to start in 2014 with full capacity being offered to the market in 2015.
TAQA received the final approvals and permits to construct and operate the facility in May 2011 following parliamentary debates in which a large majority of the Dutch national parliament approved the project. The permits were officially published allowing all stakeholders to file appeals at the Council of State. In August 2011, the Council of State suspended the permits for Bergermeer Gas Storage until the Council has come to its final verdict. TAQA expects the permits to become irrevocable following the Council’s final verdict in early 2012.
- ENDS
Contact:
TAQA Media Relations
Allan Virtanen
Group Corporate Communications Advisor
Tel.: +31 70 33 37 500
Mob.: +31 64 61 47 448
E-mail: allan.virtanen@taqaglobal.com
www.taqaglobal.com
Navita Systems
Anette Nordskog
EVP and Head of Business Development
Tel.: +47 959 35 708
E-mail: anette.nordskog@navita.com
www.navita.com
About TAQA
Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) is a global energy company majority owned by the Abu Dhabi Government and listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. Our main activities include our oil and gas business, power generation and water desalination across four continents. We are the sixth-largest independent power producer in the world and the majority owner of the facilities that provide 98% of the water and electricity requirements in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Our power plants are located in the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, India, and the United States. With operations in the UK, the Netherlands, the United States and Canada, our oil and gas business includes exploration and production, gas storage and pipeline transportation. In the Netherlands our established gas storage business includes operating the Alkmaar Peak Gas Installation (PGI). With our partner EBN, an independent company with the Dutch State as its sole shareholder, we are also developing the Bergermeer Gas Storage facility. This will make a major contribution to the security of gas supply to Northwest Europe, and provide a strong base for the Northwest European Gas Hub. Our entrepreneurial culture, along with a commitment to people, safety and the environment, has created strong foundations for the long-term sustainable growth of our business.
About Bergermeer Gas Storage
The Bergermeer Gas Storage project will create Europe’s largest open access gas storage facility. Bergermeer will provide the Northwest European gas market with 46 TWh (4.1 BCM) of seasonal storage, thereby almost doubling the Netherlands’ total storage capacity and adding an alternative source of flexibility on the TTF. The depleted Bergermeer reservoir has the ideal geological characteristics for gas storage and is in a strategically excellent location: well connected to the gas transport network, close to major cities and industrial centres and only 20 km from the BBL pipeline transporting gas between the Netherlands and the UK. TAQA (operator) and EBN hold 60% and 40% stakes in the Bergermeer Gas Storage project respectively. The design and construction of the facility require a total investment of EUR 800 million and involves drilling 14 high capacity storage wells, building a gas treatment plant and laying almost 40 km of pipeline.
As part of the realisation of this project, an agreement with Gazprom Group, one of the world’s largest energy companies, was made in 2009 as a result of an open season procedure. For delivering the required 48.5 TWh of cushion gas to pressurise the reservoir and make commercial operations possible, Gazprom group will receive a minority share of the storage capacity and an interest in the technical operatorship of the facility. Bergermeer is an open access gas storage. The majority of the storage capacity will be made available to the market via negotiated Third Party Access (TPA). The TPA capacity will be marketed via TAQA Gas Storage BV on both a longer-term basis and via annual auctions.
About Navita Systems
Navita is a leading provider of technology solutions to the energy and wider commodity trading industries. Navita’s Pomax suite delivers market analysis, trading, risk management, logistics, and settlement solutions for both physical and financial market participants and central marketplaces across a wide array of commodity classes. Navita is the continuation of more than 15 years experience within the field of system solutions and services. Navita has its head office in Norway and also has regional offices in London, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Toronto, Houston, and Los Angeles. More than 100 installations worldwide rely on Navita’s Pomax product in their daily trading operations. Pomax customers include E.ON, Centrica, EDF Trading, Statkraft, Shell, and Bruce Power.