A European Commission report published on Thursday 28 September reviews the “solidarity regulation” implemented last December to tackle the energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It looks at measures such as joint gas purchases, price controls and a coordinated emergency response to stabilise energy markets and ensure adequate gas supplies.
In analysing these emergency measures, the report suggests that certain aspects of demand aggregation and group purchasing should be incorporated in a more structural way into European gas regulations, which are currently being revised (see EUROPE 13260/5).
Furthermore, the report indicates that, despite a 70 billion cubic metre drop in Russian gas imports in 2022, the EU has compensated with over 50 billion cubic metres of LNG supplies, alternative gas pipelines and a reduction in gas consumption (corresponding to -58 billion cubic metres).
The EU has also managed to reach a gas storage level of 90% in August 2023, ahead of the deadline of 1 November 2023.
According to the report, the EU’s energy platform, via AggregateEU (see EUROPE 13255/30), has improved the diversification and transparency of supply and enabled 22.9 billion cubic metres of demand to be matched with suitable offers.
The report also highlights the need to optimise the use of LNG and storage capacity in the EU.
The structural introduction of LNG price evaluation and the daily “benchmark” published by the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) are provided for in the new REMIT legislation currently being negotiated by the co-legislators as part of the reform of the electricity market design (see EUROPE 13255/2).
Finally, the report recommends making the default solidarity rules permanent in the event of an emergency, with a few adjustments to reflect the specific nature of the LNG market, “given that LNG has now become the EU’s main source of gas supply”.
To see the report: https://aeur.eu/f/8t2 (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)