Today, ACER issues its Opinion on the draft statutory documents proposed by future hydrogen transmission network operators to formally establish the European Network of Network Operators for Hydrogen (ENNOH) as an association under the Belgian law.

As an independent body, ENNOH will be responsible for fostering collaboration among hydrogen transmission network operators across the EU.

What’s the role of ACER?

ACER is mandated to provide an Opinion on ENNOH’s draft statutory documents, which were submitted at the end of August.

ACER conducted a public consultation from 23 September to 21 October 2024, seeking views from organisations representing all stakeholders, in particular hydrogen system users, including customers. All responses received are available on the consultation page.

What is the main conclusion?

ACER welcomes the draft statutory documents received, and suggests how to enhance them to further support the establishment of ENNOH. ACER highlights, however, that a crucial factor for success lies in the timely and committed transposition of certification provisions from the Hydrogen and Decarbonised Gas Market Directive by the Member States. This responsibility, ACER notes, rests with the relevant ministries, not ENNOH or its members.

What are the next steps?

This ACER’s Opinion is addressed to the European Commission, which now has three months to provide its opinion. Should the Commission’s opinion be favourable, future hydrogen transmission network operators will have three months to adopt and publish the statutory documents.

ACER issues its Opinion on the Winter Supply Outlook 2024/25 published by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG).

ENTSOG’s Winter Supply Outlook 2024/2025 evaluates the resilience of the European gas system by analysing different scenarios involving prolonged disruptions of Russian gas imports. The Outlook focuses also on Europe’s preparedness for winter 2024/2025 and summer 2025, examining its gas system’s capacity to cope with typical and severe winter conditions (including high demand and the consequences of the expiry of Ukraine’s gas transit agreement with Russia by the end of December 2024). It also assesses the potential impact of supply disruption via the TurkStream pipeline (running from Russia to Turkey) and models varying levels of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) supply to Europe, including high, standard, and low supply scenarios.

Highlights of ENTSOG’s Winter Supply Outlook:

• High gas storage levels: on 1 October 2024, EU gas storage reached 94% of its capacity, thanks to reduced consumption, high initial storage levels, and measures by Member States.

• Monitor withdrawals from gas storage: Early gas withdrawals could deplete storage by the end of the season, increasing the risk of demand curtailment during cold spells.

• Summer storage targets: maintaining 30-40% of storage at the start of the next injection season (March 2025) is crucial to meet the 90% target by the end of summer 2025.

• Reduced reliance on Russian gas: the EU could maintain 40% storage levels at this winter's end without Russian pipeline gas, showing increased independence.

• Mitigating full supply disruptions: in case of a full gas supply disruption, extra supplies mainly from LNG imports and a 15% demand reduction are needed to avoid curtailment and maintain storage levels.

• LNG and Norwegian gas: LNG and Norwegian gas are now primary sources for EU Member States and the Energy Community’s contracting parties.

What is in ACER’s Opinion?

• ACER acknowledges that ENTSOG enlarged the scope of its methodology to include gas supply and storage developments (i.e. strategic reserves based on each Member States’ regulations, Ukrainian storage as a last resort) and to reconsider the role of LNG regasification terminal tanks for short-term storage flexibility. ACER also supports ENTSOG's efforts to model a ‘low LNG supply scenario’ that excludes Russian LNG supplies.

• ACER acknowledges that ENTSOG enlarged the scope of its methodology to include gas supply and storage developments (i.e. strategic reserves based on each Member States’ regulations, Ukrainian storage as a last resort) and to reconsider the role of LNG regasification terminal tanks for short-term storage flexibility. ACER also supports ENTSOG's efforts to model a ‘low LNG supply scenario’ that excludes Russian LNG supplies.

• ACER recommends ENTSOG to consider the following methodological improvements:
  • The inclusion of a qualitative analysis of gas futures prices and summer-winter spreads for better forecasting of potential challenges for market-based filling of gas storages.
  • Clarify the assumptions and methodology used to build the ‘low LNG supply scenario’.
  • Specify capacities added by newly commissioned projects.
  • Compare seasonal demand projections with forecasts from other institutions.

• ACER highlights the importance of a close cooperation between ENTSOG and ENTSO-E to ensure consistent results in their respective seasonal outlooks. In addition, ACER identified several risk factors for the upcoming year:
  • likely stop of Russian gas transit through Ukraine after 2024;
  • unusually cold winter;
  • failure to reduce gas demand;
  • increased demand volatility from gas power plants;
  • rising Asian gas demand;
  • low storage levels at the end of winter;
  • operational incidents in supply routes;
  • rising tensions in the Middle East affecting LNG flows and crude prices.

ACER publishes today an updated edition of its Guidance on REMIT application, reflecting the changes introduced by the revised REMIT Regulation.

ACER regularly produces and updates a non-binding Guidance for National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs), market participants and other relevant stakeholders, to ensure effective coordination and consistency in the application of REMIT. This guidance ensures that REMIT requirements are well explained and uniformly applied, providing clarity and direction to NRAs, market participants and other relevant stakeholders.                          

What are the main updates?

The revised Guidance:

• Updates definitions to align them with the revised REMIT Regulation, including the concepts of market manipulation, wholesale energy products and persons professionally arranging or executing transactions (PPAETs).
• Reflects the expanded scope of REMIT’s application on data reporting: covering new products, electricity balancing markets, coupled markets and algorithmic trading. It also clarifies the extension of REMIT’s market abuse provisions to wholesale energy products that also qualify as financial instruments.
• Clarifies the concept and obligations of the PPAETs under Article 15.
• Corrects wording and references to ensure consistency with the revised REMIT Regulation.

This update was delivered after extensive consultation with NRAs, REMIT experts, and members of the Market Surveillance Forum. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) was also consulted in the process to ensure accuracy.

What are the next steps?

ACER invites NRAs and relevant stakeholders to follow the ACER Guidance while implementing the revised REMIT Regulation. Further revisions are not anticipated until all implementing and delegated acts are in place.

The EU framework that aims to prevent wholesale energy market abuse and support fair competition (REMIT) was revised in May 2024 to keep pace with evolving market dynamics. Following the ongoing discussions with relevant stakeholders after the adoption of the revised REMIT, ACER publishes today the updated:

• Transaction Reporting User Manual (TRUM) and its Annexes; and
• Guidance on reporting LNG market data.

These guidance documents help market participants with their data reporting obligations.

ACER has also released the minutes of the November roundtable meeting on data reporting.

What’s new in these ACER guidance documents?

• TRUM and its Annexes: the amendments mainly focus on clarifying the definition of Organised Marketplaces (OMPs), outlining their criteria and characteristics. This update aligns TRUM with the revised REMIT and aims to create a consistent understanding to help market participants, regulators, and other stakeholders identify and assess OMPs.
• Guidance on reporting LNG market data: the update aligns the legal references of the document with the revised REMIT, which now includes the collection of LNG market data for the publication of ACER’s daily LNG price assessment and benchmark.  

The updated TRUM and its Annexes are available in the REMIT Knowledge Base.

What was the roundtable meeting about?

On 26 and 28 November 2024, ACER organised a roundtable meeting on data reporting.

The event featured a joint session with the European Commission and gathered Associations of Energy Market Participants (AEMPs), OMPs, Registered Reporting Mechanisms (RRMs) and Inside Information Platforms (IIPs) to discuss the upcoming revision of the REMIT Implementing Regulation and other changes introduced by the updated REMIT. Stakeholders also received updates on the REMIT data reporting framework, including the TRUM.

ACER is forming a new Expert Group to provide advice on peak-shaving products. We are looking for experts (e.g. engineers and/or economists) with relevant expertise in electricity markets.

What are peak-shaving products?

Peak-shaving products are market-based tools that enable market participants to reduce their electricity consumption during peak demand periods in exchange for compensation.

Under the Electricity Market Design (EMD) Regulation, the Council can declare a regional or EU-wide electricity crisis if wholesale prices become excessively high. In such cases, Member States can direct system operators to use peak-shaving products to reduce power demand, helping to stabilise the grid and lower prices.

The EMD Regulation also mandates ACER to assess the potential impact of developing peak-shaving products on Europe’s electricity market under normal market conditions. To this end, ACER will launch a public consultation in spring 2025.

What will the Expert Group do?

The Expert Group will advise ACER on how developing peak-shaving products (i.e., products aiming to reduce electricity consumption during peak hours) might affect the EU electricity market. Experts will explore the products’ feasibility, main benefits, and potential drawbacks. They will also advise ACER in assessing whether these products can be introduced without disrupting the functioning of electricity markets or redirecting existing demand response services towards peak-shaving products.

The group will operate until summer 2025, with the possibility of extending throughout the year for further analysis.

How to apply?

Follow the instructions in the Open Letter, ensuring that you fulfill all the criteria. The deadline for application is Monday, 20 January 2025.

Read more about the Expert Group.

Today, ACER publishes its Monitoring Reports on electricity infrastructure, and security of electricity supply respectively.

ACER’s first electricity infrastructure Monitoring Report:

• Assesses the cost impacts of investing in electricity transmission and distribution networks to keep pace with the energy transition.

• Analyses how cross-border electricity network planning aligns with grid capacity needs.

ACER’s annual Monitoring Report on security of EU electricity supply:

• Examines implementation by Member States and the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) of the resource adequacy framework to safeguard Europe’s security of electricity supply.

• Provides new information on measures aimed at securing electricity supplies (i.e. national capacity mechanisms) and supporting non-fossil flexibility.

• Assesses whether national capacity mechanisms align with the European goals of decarbonisation and affordability.

What are ACER’s key findings?

• The stakes are high for the clean energy transition. Failing to address power grid capacity needs and the persistent support of fossil-fuel generators by capacity mechanisms risks delaying the energy transition. Europe has a unique opportunity. Speeding up grid development and increasing the capacity of existing grids play a big role in enabling decarbonisation.

• Containing system costs (one of the main drivers of electricity costs) is key for EU competitiveness: System costs refer to the expenses incurred beyond the cost of energy. These include grid-related costs, expenses associated with support schemes such as national capacity mechanisms, and other related expenditures which together add up significantly. ACER points to the need to contain the rise in costs: in 2023 the costs of capacity mechanisms increased by 40%. ACER’s monitoring forecasts network cost increase of 20-40% by 2030, and possibly up to 100% by 2050; if so, possibly endangering the overall affordability of electricity bills.  ACER points out that in many cases, increasing the capacity of existing electricity grids could be a less expensive alternative to new lines build-out.

• Implementation of the infrastructure planning and resource adequacy frameworks has advanced, but much more is needed promptly. For example, there is still no joined up (electricity and gas) infrastructure planning by the European gas and electricity transmission system operator bodies.

What are ACER’s recommendations?

• Prioritise efficiency:
  • Make better use of existing grids to increase grid capacity before building new ones.  
  • Ensure that any national capacity mechanism is firstly needed, well-designed, open to cross-border participation, and coordinated with any support schemes for flexibility to control costs.

• Further implement and improve the security of supply and infrastructure planning frameworks.

• Foster a more coordinated approach between Member States to lower security of supply costs and accelerate cost-efficient investments in regional infrastructure.

• Carefully monitor investments across all grid levels to track how grid developments align with the energy transition.

Would you like to find out more?

Dive into the reports and infographics:

Electricity infrastructure Monitoring Report.

Security of EU electricity supply Monitoring Report.

The Administrative Board of the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) has extended the mandate of the current Director, Mr Christian Zinglersen, for another five-year mandate. This takes effect from 1 January 2025 until 31 December 2029.

Mr Zinglersen’s reappointment as ACER Director ensures continued leadership of the Agency at a time of significant challenges in EU energy markets, ambitious EU energy and climate goals and an expanded role for ACER. The Agency is on the path of significant growth, reflecting its expanding role following three major legislative packages adopted in 2024. These reforms (which aim to enhance electricity market integration, strengthen the oversight of energy markets to protect businesses from market abuse, and support gas decarbonisation) coupled with its previously mandated work shape ACER’s agenda for the years ahead.

Chair of ACER’s Administrative Board, Ms Edit Herczog, said:

“In the context of today’s planetary and geopolitical boundaries and the importance of energy to our society and the economy, the role of ACER in driving an interconnected EU energy ecosystem is vital. This is the mission of the ACER Director and leadership for the next five years.”

Chair of ACER’s Boards of Regulators, Ms Clara Poletti, said:

“The unanimous favourable opinion of the Board of Regulators to the Director’s reappointment underscores the national regulators’ belief in Mr Zinglersen’s strong leadership and his dedication to steering the Agency through its evolving mandate.”

On his reappointment as ACER Director, Mr Zinglersen said:

“I am honoured to have the trust and confidence of the ACER Boards to steer the Agency through its evolving mandate for the coming years. At ACER, we understand the real-world energy challenges and trade-offs that governments and stakeholders face. One such key challenge facing Europe, and a promise of the European Commission under its new political mandate, is to enhance EU competitiveness while reducing energy bills for companies and households. A key component here will be how Europe’s integrated energy markets evolve in the years ahead. Naturally ACER and our members, the National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs), will have a key role to play here if leaders across the EU decide to leverage further this potential asset.

Building trust is not built solely on shared values but also through ACER’s daily graft alongside the NRAs of monitoring energy markets and networks to ensure the rules are respected, removing barriers, increasing transparency, analysing data to detect market manipulation and insider trading, and providing evidence-based insights that help decision-makers make informed decisions about the trade-offs they face. As the saying goes, ‘The only easy day was yesterday’, reflecting that as our energy transition unfolds, there will be ample new and exciting challenges to devote ourselves to.”

The ACER Administrative Board’s decision (at its 11-12 December meeting) to reappoint Director Zinglersen was based on a proposal by the European Commission and supported by a favourable opinion from the ACER Board of Regulators. Ahead of the decision of the Administrative Board, Mr Zinglersen appeared before the ITRE Committee of the European Parliament (3 December 2024), answering questions from its members.