On Friday, 8 March, the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) examined how European and national regulations affect gas storage, which is the second component of a two-part study on this subject (see EUROPE 13275/7).
The study, commissioned from VIS Economic & Energy Consultants, assesses storage arrangements in Member States that do not have gas storage facilities and makes a number of recommendations for better use and implementation of storage measures.
They include the implementation of support schemes to supplement the obligations of storage users, as well as improving the efficiency of filling storage as a last resort by facilitating access to futures markets for price hedging and implementing a strategy for bringing gas stocks back onto the market.
The study also recommends avoiding the requirement to reserve excess capacity at cross-border interconnection points as part of the release of gas stocks, as well as avoiding the inclusion of charges and levies imposed at interconnection points as part of cost recovery mechanisms, and offering Contracts for Difference (CfDs) well in advance of the injection period, with direct subsidies granted as a last resort.
To see the report: https://aeur.eu/f/b7l (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)