Our customers

When providing access to the national natural gas network, we aim for openness and transparency. Available capacities for each entry and exit point can be accessed publicly in digital form. Efficiency is also a top priority. It goes without saying that we always act in accordance with the physical capabilities of our transport network.

GTS has two main customer groups: shippers and connected parties (end users).

Shippers, approximately 200 in total, have a transport contract with GTS. In other words, they have contracted capacity at both an entry and an exit point (see entry and exit system). So a shipper brings a certain volume of natural gas into the ‘GTS system’ at a contracted entry point and takes off the same volume of natural gas at a contracted exit point. A shipper can also book other services with us, such as our flexibility service.Shippers are companies approved by GTS that meet the criteria below:

• They accept GTS’s standard terms and conditions for transport, together with the associated appendices. These terms and conditions are set out in the ´Transmission Service Conditions (TSC)´.
• They are found to be creditworthy by GTS or are able to provide additional financial security.

Special rules also apply to communication between the shipper and GTS. The parties have to be able to use an electronic messaging system. GTS will have to test and approve the shipper’s operational use of the system.

Over 1,100 companies and organisations are directly connected to our national grid. We call these companies and organisations 'connected parties’ or ‘end users’. These include major industries, power plants, producers and network companies in the Netherlands and abroad. Most of these customers will buy the gas they need from a supplier. A shipper makes sure that this gas is delivered to the connected party via GTS’s network.

Connected parties may contract exit capacity without entry capacity. They transfer this exit capacity to the shipper who is going to deliver the gas to them. In such cases, a connected party is known as an 'end user with exit capacity'. Connected parties can also opt to transport gas through GTS’s transport network themselves. Then they are not only connected party but also shipper and then they will need to contract both exit and entry capacity.

GTS concludes a Connection Agreement with connected parties. The connected parties in turn have a delivery contract with a supplier.

The contract between the shippers and GTS is governed by the terms and conditions set out in the Transmission Service Conditions (TSC). A shipper has a delivery contract with a supplier (or is itself a natural gas supplier).

Local distribution companies (LDCs) are also connected to GTS’s network and are therefore ‘connected parties’. The LDCs transport the gas through their own networks to end users such as households and office buildings. They conclude connection and transport contracts with these customers. The end user has also concluded a delivery contract with a supplier. Most households have a contract with a supplier that includes their connection and transport costs and so they will not have concluded separate connection and transport contracts.