Question 4.1.10

Does the Agency need to be aware about the point direction for which the affected capacity is announced? If yes, how this information shall be provided through XML based on UMM Schema No 2 “Unavailabilities for gas facilities”?

The format for the XMLs for “Unavailabilities for gas facilities” (Schema No2) does not contain attribute for the point direction.

In the context of publication of unavailabilities for gas facilities, an “Affected asset or units” could be the connection point (cross-border, interconnection point, delivery point, measurement point etc.). In case that the affected point is bidirectional, the point capacity is direction dependent, respectively the values of the UMM Schema No2 attributes: Technical capacity, Available capacity and Unavailable capacity depend on the point direction.

In summary, the technical, available and booked capacities in normal circumstances are different for the different point direction. This means that during an event of unavailability both sites of a point could be affected and respectively - the affected capacities are different per point direction.

Answer: The point direction shall be identified via field (15/b) Balancing zone in case that the affected point is bidirectional. The field allows for multiple EIC codes identifying balancing zones and the point direction will be determined by the order of EIC codes in the XML schema. The first EIC code should refer to the ENTRY point (IN= Balancing Zone where the flow starts), and the second EIC code should refer to the EXIT point (OUT= Balancing Zone where the flow ends).

When a connection point between a transmission system and LNG terminal or transmission system and Storage facility, or transmission system and TSO from a non-EU country is affected, the submission of IN and OUT balancing zones should reflect the direction of the flow with the above IN/OUT logic applied to the facilities.

For example: if the outage is related to the flow from an LNG facility towards the Gas Transmission Network, the first EIC should represent the LNG facility and the second the Balancing zone. Example:

W EIC LNG facility= Entry point

Y EIC Balancing zone= Exit point

The same applies to storage facilities and bidirectional interconnection points.

For complex cases when one point connects more than two balancing zones, the following logic shall apply: If the direction is from Entry Point (EIC 1) to several exit points, the first EIC code represents the entry point, the second (EIC 2) and third (EIC 3) /fourth (EIC 4) EICs represent the exit points. If the outage occurs at EIC 1 then the first code will be EIC 1 and then all the possible EICs affected zones should be reported after that. Example:

Reporting party: TSO 1

EIC 1 = Entry point

EIC 2= Exit point

EIC 3 = Exit point

EIC 4 = Exit point

If the outage is at the exit point (e.g. EIC 4) the report should indicate two points as the TSO/operator of EIC 4 will not be able to publish any information about EIC 2 and EIC 3. Example

Reporting party: TSO 4

EIC 1 = Entry point

EIC 4 = Exit point

Or in case or reverse flow:

If the outage is at the entry point (e.g. EIC 4) the report should indicate two points as the TSO/operator of EIC 4 will not be able to publish any information about EIC 2 and EIC 3. Example

Reporting party: TSO 4

EIC 4 = Entry point

EIC 1 = Exit point

If the outage is at the exit point (e.g. EIC 2) the report should indicate two points as the TSO/operator of EIC 2 will not be able to publish any information about EIC 4 and EIC 3. Example:

Reporting party: TSO 2

EIC 1 = Entry point

EIC 2 = Exit point