ACER assesses the tariff methodology proposed for the Czech gas transmission system
What is the report about?
Today, ACER releases its report on the Czech gas transmission tariffs proposed for 2025 by the Energetický regulační úřad (ERO), the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) of the Czech Republic.
Recent changes in the patterns of the European gas imports (resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine) have led to the underutilisation of the Czech natural gas transmission infrastructure. Additionally, future flows into the network face considerable uncertainty due to the termination of the transit contract for gas transportation through Ukraine scheduled by the end of 2025.
To address these issues, ERO proposes to apply:
- A capacity weighted distance methodology as the reference price methodology (RPM).
- Several mechanisms to address this volume risk, including the implementation of a price cap regime and a risk premium. These mechanisms aim at allocating the existing risk to the TSO. The NRA recommends applying these measures until the end of 2025, when greater stability and visibility on gas flows across the EU is expected.
What does ACER recommend?
ACER analysed the information provided by ERO and assessed the compliance of the proposed RPM against the requirements of the Network Code on Harmonised Transmission Tariff Structures (NC TAR), providing the following recommendations:
- Ensure transparency and consistency of the proposed reference price methodology.
- Provide additional information on the risk premium collected by the TSO in 2021 and 2022.
- Provide further details on the revenue reconciliation and revenue sharing mechanisms, proposed by ERO to mitigate the volume risk of the network.
- Monitor and analyse the differences between the flow-based charge applicable to domestic exit points and the one applied to Interconnection Points’ (IPs’) exits.
What are the next steps?
By 19 October 2024, ERO shall adopt a motivated decision on the new tariff methodology to be applied to the Czech transmission network, taking into account ACER’s analysis.
Access all ACER reports on national tariff consultation documents.