57Pan-European Gas Market Unit Our Structure In 2008, E.ON Gastransport and bayernets formed a company called NetConnect Germany ("NCG") to create a joint market area. In 2009, the NCG market area was expanded to include the gas networks of ENI Gas Transport Deutschland, GRTgaz Deutschland, and GVS Netz. This further simplifies transport for gas shippers, increases liquidity at NCG's virtual trading point, and promotes competition in gas sales.The merger has created by far Germany's largest gas market area, with a total system length of about 14,800 km. Going forward, NetConnect aims to attract more part- ner networks. In addition, E.ON Ruhrgas is active in international joint ven- tures to expand Europe's gas pipeline infrastructure. The flag- ship project is Nord Stream (and the connecting NEL and OPAL pipelines), which will create a new gas link from Russia to Germany and other European countries. E.ON Ruhrgas is also partnering with other companies to develop TGL, a pipeline from Germany to Italy via Austria.These projects will enhance Europe's gas supply security by establishing additional transport routes. Storage E.ON Gas Storage operates our gas storage infrastructure in Europe, which has a total working gas capacity of about 10 bcm. Its largest presence is in Germany where it currently has 6 bcm of working gas capacity at 13 facilities across the country. In 2009, E.ON Gas Storage completed an expansion project at a facility in Hungary (see text box). In the next several years, E.ON Gas Storage will be enlarging its capacity to a total of more than 12 bcm at storage facilities in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and the U.K. In 2009, E.ON Gas Storage expanded its customer base in Germany by marketing storage capacity at specific facilities and grew its international business by marketing the new capacity in Hungary. You'll find E.ON's consolidated financial statements and related commentary in our Financial Report. Want to know more about Pan-European Gas? eon-ruhrgas.com Zsana capacity increase New gas storage capacity entered service at an E.ON Gas Storage facility in Zsana, Hungary, in December 2009. The expansion project, which took less than two years to complete, increased Zsana's work- ing gas capacity from 1.5 bcm to 2.1 bcm, making it one of the biggest gas storage facilities in Central and Eastern Europe. E.ON Gas Storage now has 4.3 bcm of storage capacity in Hungary, enough to meet nearly one third of the country's annual gas needs. The aim of the ca- pacity increase is to buttress Hungary's gas supply security, particu- larly during its often harsh winter. Looking into the future when Hun- gary has more cross-border transfer capacity with its neighbors (Slovakia, Croatia, and Romania), its significant storage assets will en- able it to go from being a gas importer to a regional gas hub. This will create opportunities for E.ON Gas Storage to market storage services throughout the region. E.ON Ruhrgas plays a key role in our effort to tackle climate change by using its gas-storage expertise to help find effective solutions for permanently storing carbon dioxide underground. Natural gas storage facility in Zsana, Hungary: one of the largest in Central and Eastern Europe.