In the frame of The Madrid Forum, which took place on 20 and 21 April, ACER reaffirmed its appreciation for the European Commission’s Energy Union communication as an opportunity to move EU energy policy into a higher gear to address common challenges. In this context ACER presented the progress made with regard to the Gas Target Model and supported cross-border cooperation under the regional initiatives. ACER actively took part in the debates on the network codes also addressed by the Forum.
ACER presented the recently published Gas Target Model - Review and Update, and provided an implementation plan, including the process for the calculation of the metrics for each wholesale market, and the self-evaluation process of the NRAs. Progress of the regional market integration pilot projects was also presented. Stakeholders welcomed the concrete examples, and discussed in particular the number of liquid hubs eventually needed in an integrated European gas market.
On Tariffs, ACER showed its commitment to
continue the constructive dialogue with ENTSOG and the Commission. ACER is
convinced that the cost allocation methodologies are at the heart of the
Network Code. This topic should be tackled now and not be postponed to a later
point in time. Improvements to the submitted Network Code, in line with ACER's Reasoned Opinion, should be made in particular regarding limiting options
in the outlined methodologies foreseen in the ENTSOG draft Network Code.
Furthermore, ACER presented the preliminary results of this year's congestion report at the Madrid Forum planned to be published by 1 June 2015. Two examples of good cross-border cooperation were presented as case studies by the National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) of the Netherlands and Austria (ACM and E-Control). ACER also called on NRAs and Transmission System Operators (TSOs) to prepare for implementation of the “firm day ahead use it or lose it” at those IPs identified as repeatedly congested in the ACER congestion report.
The implementation date for the Capacity Allocation (CAM) Network Code is fast approaching. The three existing booking platforms are urged to step up their efforts to implement a cooperation model by 1 November 2015. ACER will assess whether the chosen models are legally compliant and fully operational. ACER will furthermore conduct an analysis of the existing booking platforms to assess whether they all comply with the relevant provisions of the CAM Network Code.
The Madrid Forum was created by the European Commission to discuss issues regarding the creation of the internal gas market. Participants include ACER, NRAs, EU national governments, the Energy Community Secretariat, TSOs, gas suppliers, traders and producers, consumers, network users, and gas exchanges.
You can find the presentations of the Madrid Forum here.