Nomination, matching and confirmation

A shipper will indicate to GTS how much gas it intends to transport at an entry point or exit point at any given hour of the gas day by submitting nominations. Nominations are required at entry and exit points wherever GTS needs nominations for technical transport reasons or for the purpose of calculation of the assignment of interruptible capacity. Nominations are also obligatory at points where they are needed to determine allocations. Nominations need to be submitted to GTS before 2 pm on the gas day preceding the gas day on which the gas will flow. In general, renominations are allowed at the latest up to 2 hrs (or 30 minutes under certain conditions) before the hour to which the renomination refers. Nominations on all entry- and exit-points including the TTF are governed by the “lesser rule” principle. This means that if there is a difference between the nominated volumes of the two shippers or traders who report a gas trade, the lesser volume will be confirmed to both parties by GTS. (Re)nominations at TTF points can be made at the latest up to 30 minutes before the hour to which the nomination refers. GTS will check the (re)nominations of the shippers. Exception are possible in certain cases*.

The matching procedure involves:

• Checking the (re)nomination against the conditions of the relevant contract (check whether capacity will be exceeded);
• Matching the (re)nomination to the (re)nominations of other shippers or to information received from neighbouring network operators.

As soon as the matching procedure has been completed, GTS will send a confirmation to the shipper. If the nominated capacity exceeds the booked capacity (already refused when sent in and treated as if not submitted), and no (re)nomination is made within the limits of the booked capacity, GTS will confirm zero. If the check shows that the volume of nominated gas is allowed (sufficient capacity) and possible (no transport bottlenecks), the confirmation will be identical to the nomination. In all other cases, the confirmation will differ from the nomination. Interruptions of interruptible transport capacity take place in time stamp sequence. Confirmation at TTF points will be given after matching the nominated volumes of the two parties transferring gas to one another, in accordance with the “lesser rule” principle. Both parties will receive a confirmation with the status ‘settled’ if the nominations match. A (re) nomination by one of the parties does not lead to an adjustment of the confirmation with the status ‘settled’. Not until both parties send new matching nominations, will a new confirmation with the status ‘settled’ follow for the new matching volume.

*Following TSC 2011-2 appendix 5 article 4.1. it is stated that in cases of flows in the minimum flow range of Gate, the Producer Prevail matching rule shall apply at entry point 301345 Rotterdam (Gate).
Producer Prevail matching rule: in case of a difference between the upstream shipper (US) and the downstream shipper (DS) nominations the value of the US will be leading in confirming to the US and DS shipper.

Click here for the Excel document.

There is also a presentation available that describes the process of nomination and matching at the TTF in detail.