In its 10th report on the subject, published on 31 May, the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) noted that network congestion in gas markets had tripled.
Against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, changes in supply and demand have led to bottlenecks in gas transport.
“Congestion occurs first at the level of contracts when network users cannot obtain the capacity contract they need to flow gas. It is addressed by bringing any unused capacity back to the market”, explains ACER.
Physical congestion at LNG terminals and at cross-border pipelines in northwest Europe meant that the system was used at full capacity and gas could not be transported easily, driving up hub price-spreads.
Congestion arose at 50 interconnection points and congestion revenue received by transmission system operators rose sharply, from €55 million in 2021 to around €3.4 billion in 2022.
ACER calls on gas transmission system operators and national regulatory authorities to reduce bottlenecks.
To view the ACER report: https://aeur.eu/f/77d (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)