The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) publishes today the 28th edition of its REMIT Quarterly.

What is the REMIT Quarterly?

The REMIT Quarterly is the Agency’s main channel of communication with stakeholders on REMIT-related matters, and provides updates on ACER’s REMIT activities.

Covering the first quarter of 2022, this edition highlights the REMIT decision on market manipulation in the French gas market, upheld by the French High Court, which resulted in EUR 1 million fine.

The Quarterly also includes:

• the hydrogen wholesale market development, which looks at the structural developments of last year towards a liquid wholesale market for hydrogen,

• the recent updates on the ACER decision regarding the Single Intraday Coupling (SIDC) market,

• considerations for an enhanced REMIT stakeholders’ awareness,

•  statistics on Registered Reporting Mechanisms (RRMs)’ contingency reports, as well as providing an overview of REMIT breach cases in the first quarter of 2022,

• recent updates of the REMIT documentation.

Read more.

In the current geopolitical context, Europe’s energy regulators welcome the European Commission’s initiative to bolster the Union’s security of gas supply, and have identified some practical reflections to reach the objective of filling EU gas storage facilities more effectively, whilst protecting the consumer interest.

Under normal operating circumstances, gas suppliers would generally fill storage facilities to a very high level. The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and the Council for European Energy Regulators (CEER) therefore underline that the proposed measures must be considered exceptional, temporary and specifically targeted to the current circumstances, where high wholesale prices, negative seasonal spreads and risks on the availability of import gas volumes prevent market players from storing gas.

The present proposals from ACER and CEER aim at responding to the emergency with simple rules and allocation keys and, looking at the longer term, elaborating on methods to better address rights and duties of Member States and gas suppliers. Regulators’ key reflections can be summarised as follows:

Methods:

• Measures must be exceptional, temporary and specifically targeted to the current circumstances

• Intervention should be proportionate to the goals and should avoid distorting the market where it is able to fulfil adequate levels of gas storage

• The EU institutions should find an appropriate balance between top-down and bottom-up approaches

General principles:

• Filling targets should apply a demand-based rather than capacity-based rationale, combining European and national levels

• Apply simple but realistic measures during the course of this year (2022), taking into account national specific characteristics and constraints

• For the future (2023 and beyond): better estimate storage needs on the basis of several parameters (LNG tanks, diversity of supply, demand seasonality, interconnection capacities, dependence on Russian supplies)

• Risk mitigation measures should minimise the use of public funding 

• Implement an EU wide monitoring of storage filling levels and of prices paid for that fill.

Would you like to find out more?

Read the ACER-CEER paper.

Join the ACER-CEER Webinar on Gas Storage Regulation and Security of Supply (17 May, 10-11.30 CET). Registration is open!

The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) has published today its Final Assessment of the EU Wholesale Electricity Market Design.

What’s in the report?

This ACER Final Report presents an in-depth analysis of:

• energy price levels and drivers

• current wholesale electricity market design

• ways to future-proof the wholesale electricity market

• extreme price shocks and considerations on temporary, targeted measures

• the impact on retail markets and how to protect consumers.

ACER concludes with a set of 13 measures for policy makers’ consideration.

Key Findings

Overall, ACER finds that whilst the current electricity market design is worth keeping, some improvements will prove key for it to deliver on important challenges, including:

• Making short-term electricity markets work better everywhere

• Driving the energy transition through efficient long-term markets

• Increasing the flexibility of the electricity system

• Protecting consumers against excessive volatility whilst addressing inevitable trade-offs

• Tackling non-market barriers and political stumbling blocks

• Preparing for future high energy prices in ‘peace time’; being very prudent towards wholesale market intervention in ‘war time’.

ACER’s 13 measures for consideration by policy makers

ACER’s analysis has put forward a suite of 13 measures for policy makers to future proof the market design, for example to:  

• shield those consumers that need protection the most from price volatility

• stimulate ‘market making’ to improve liquidity in the long-term markets

• speed up electricity market integration, implementing what is already agreed

• better integrate forward markets

• consider prudently the need for market interventions in situations of extreme duress and, if pursued, consider tackling the ‘root causes’.

Access the full Assessment.

Next steps

ACER published its Preliminary Assessment in November 2021. This Final Assessment fulfils the mandate given by the European Commission in October 2021.

ACER will present its Final Assessment at a public webinar on the 5th May.