Gas shippers are responsible for buying gas from producers which is then transported to end consumers – whether homes, businesses, industrial plants or power stations. Gas is transported around Great Britain by the National Transmission System (NTS), which is owned and operated by National Gas. If a shipper wishes to move gas through our pipelines, they must book capacity on the network. 

Book your ‘ticket to ride’ on the NTS 

Capacity is essentially ‘space’ in the pipeline. Shippers must rent pipeline space for the duration they wish to move gas through it. If we think of the NTS as the motorway network for gas, then renting capacity on it is the motorway toll – it’s your ticket to ride on the network. 

Our high-pressure NTS network is an extremely complex matrix comprising of thousands of miles of pipeline. It carries gas from its points of entry to large users such as power stations and industry, to storage facilities, and to the domestic Gas Distribution Networks (GDNs), as well as overseas via interconnectors. The capacity regime we operate simplifies this complexity for shippers. To rent space, shippers simply need to book either entry capacity to flow gas into the system or exit capacity to flow gas off the system. 

The way we rent out space (capacity) on our network is via auctions. Shippers may need to move gas on the NTS for different periods of time, from a day up to a decade or more – so we offer a range of auctions covering short to long-term capacity requirements.  

Find out more about the different types of long and short-term capacity auctions, when they open and close, how to bid, and the entitlements granted to successful bidders: