The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) publishes today its Opinion on the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG) Winter Supply Outlook 2021/2022.

What are the main highlights of ENTSOG Winter Supply Outlook?

ACER highlights the following findings from ENTSOG’s Outlook:

• The EU storage level on 1st October 2021 (75% of overall storage capacity) is one of the lowest in recent years, with varying situations among countries.

This is primarily due to a record high use of storage flexibility during the previous winter and a low injection during the summer with record-high gas wholesale prices.

• The European gas infrastructure offers sufficient flexibility to supply volumes to meet demand in Europe, assuming that gas supply is available in similar volumes as in recent years.

However, in case of a cold winter, the gas market would need to increase imports from pipelines and/or LNG by 5% to 10% more than the maximum volumes observed in recent years.

• Early and significant gas withdrawals from storages would result in low storage levels at the end of the winter season, with a negative impact on the gas system flexibility.

• South-Eastern Europe has significantly reduced its exposure to demand curtailment following the commissioning of new infrastructures, such as the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, Turk stream and other investments.

Despite this improvement, the Outlook’s supply route disruption simulations show that some demand curtailment under extreme temperatures are possible in selected regions.

What is ACER’s assessment?

ACER welcomes the timely publication of the ENTSOG Winter Outlook and finds it contributes to the objectives of the EU Regulations.

In particular, the Agency:

• notes with concern that, in case of a cold winter, the gas market would need to increase its gas imports from pipelines and/or LNG compared to maximum volumes observed in recent years, creating a risk of exposure to high gas wholesale prices.

• welcomes ENTSOG’s willingness to monitor the storage levels’ evolution and import volumes throughout the upcoming winter and to report on a regular basis and when anomalies appear.

• highlights the critical importance of counting with adequate storage levels towards the end of the winter season in anticipation of possible high demand or system stress situations.
  • Early and significant withdrawal would result in low storage levels at the end of the winter, with a negative impact on the flexibility of the EU gas system.
  • ACER expects storage users to prudently withdraw gas from storage to contribute to safeguarding the continuity of gas deliveries throughout the winter, in compliance with the contractual commitments and storage obligations, where applicable.

• identifies the existence of specific risk factors for the upcoming winter season (not always factored or mentioned in the Outlook), such as:
  • uncertainty on the availability of additional volumes from major sources of gas imports going beyond the contracted volumes,
  • very high gas wholesale prices.

ACER calls on ENTSOG and all actors with responsibilities related to gas supply continuity and price monitoring to remain vigilant for the upcoming winter in regards of those risk factors.

What does ACER recommend?

ENTSOG should consider improving future Outlook’s assumptions and methodology to better identify potential supply risks, including exposure to very high gas wholesale prices.

In particular, ACER encourages ENTSOG to consider using a complementary scenario based on expected gas supply and booked capacities in addition to the current scenarios based on historical values of gas supply. ACER also suggests to  include embedding expected gas prices and gas price demand elasticity into ENTSOG’s modelling.

The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) has published the outcome of the 2021 roundtable meetings on REMIT data reporting, the 26th edition of the Questions and Answers (Q&As) on REMIT, and an "Open Letter on the extension of the possibility to disclose inside information through corporate websites as a backup solution in case of platform unavailability".

Outcome of the 2021 roundtable meetings on REMIT data reporting

ACER has published the minutes of the latest roundtable meetings – held virtually on 16 and 18 November 2021 – with representatives from organised market places, registered reporting mechanisms, inside information platforms and associations of energy market participants. The minutes reflect the lively discussions on the accomplishments related to REMIT activities, the relevance of present and future challenges, and the next steps to be taken.

The REMIT roundtable meetings –usually held once a year – allow ACER and stakeholders to check in on the state of play of REMIT-related topics and report, discuss and consult on any outstanding issues. The recent meetings were, in particular, an opportunity for ACER to share the latest updates on REMIT data collection, as well as to discuss the ongoing consultation on the updated versions of the transaction reporting guidance and the electronic schemas.

New edition of Q&As on REMIT

ACER also publishes today the 26th edition of the Q&As on REMIT.  It contains the most up-to-date information on REMIT policy issues and it is the result of cooperation with national regulatory authorities (NRAs). It contains new information on the registration of market participants under REMIT, as well as an update on the adoption of backup solutions when dealing with the disclosure of inside information. The Q&As reflect the discussions held with stakeholders during specific events – such as webinars and roundtable meetings – as well as interactions via the REMIT Query form.

New open letter on disclosing inside information

The newly published open letter on the extension of the disclosure of inside information through corporate websites as a backup solution in case of platform unavailability announces ACER’s decision to extend – until 31 December 2022 – the possibility for market participants to publish inside information on their own corporate website as a backup solution.

The decision was triggered by the monitoring of the relevant requirements, consultations with the NRAs, and discussions with market participants during the roundtable meetings 2021. The ACER Guidance on the application of REMIT stipulates that in case an inside information platform (IIP) is temporarily unavailable, a market participant shall refer to a backup solution provided by the IIP. As indicated in the Open Letter, such an exceptional condition may apply only insofar as the website used as a backup solution fulfils the relevant minimum data quality requirements in accordance with the ACER Guidance on REMIT.

The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) publishes today an opinion on the third update of the manual of procedures for the European Network System Operator for Electricity (ENTSO-E) transparency platform.

ENTSO-E submitted the request for opinion to ACER on 6 October 2021. The update concerns mostly the data related to the European Platforms for the exchange of electricity balancing services across the EU.

Overall, ACER finds the updated manual of procedures fulfils the requirements for the publication of the balancing data items and meets the objective of the Transparency Regulation, subject to the consideration of various recommendations included in the Opinion.

ENTSO-E transparency platform

The purpose of the transparency platform is to provide a common service to all market participants, such as generators, retailers and traders. By increasing transparency, the platform contributes to prevent insider trading and provides equal level playing field between small and large actors.

Read more on ACER Opinion.