EU security of gas supply regulation
The regulation sets various requirements on member states to improve European security of gas supply. These include:
- designating a competent authority responsible for security of gas supply
- ensuring gas to ‘protected customers’ during periods of high gas demand
- assessing whether physical bi-directional capacity needs to be enabled on interconnectors with other member states
- ensuring there is enough capacity to cover gas demand in the event of the largest piece of gas infrastructure going offline during a period of high gas demand (the ‘n-1’ standard)
- ensuring protected customers continue to receive gas during a period of high gas demand in the event of the largest piece of gas infrastructure going offline (the supply standard)
- preparing a risk assessment and preventative action plan
- liaising with the European Commission and other member states as appropriate, in particular during an EU gas supply emergency
DECC is responsible for implementing the requirements of the EU Security of Gas supply regulation, formally known as Regulation 994/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 concerning measures to safeguard security of gas supply and repealing Council Directive 2004/67/EC. This regulation is intended to improve European gas supply, which is expected to have knock-on benefits for UK gas security of supply.
The implementation is being taken forward as a joint project with Ofgem and National Grid, and updates on the implementation will be posted on this page.
Latest developments
3 March 2012: Transmission System Operators have submitted requests for exemption from the Regulation requirement to enable physical reverse flow on interconnectors by 3 December 2013. DECC has notified the Commission and other Member States as required by the Regulation, who now have 4 months to issue an opinion on these requests.
In the meantime, DECC is taking forward the preparation of the Preventive Action Plan, and Emergency Plan.
December 2011: A number of Regulation requirements had a deadline in the Regulation of 03 December 2011. These are for Member States to:
- Produce a detailed risk assessment
DECC published the risk assessment on 8 November 2011, as detailed below.
- Notify the definition of protected customers
DECC has notified the following definition to the Commission:
For the purposes of this Regulation, “Protected Customers”, who would continue to receive their supplies in full, are defined as: all households plus those customers classified as category A under the Gas Priority Users arrangements (which would include hospitals and care homes). NB It is not possible to separately isolate other customers, including SMEs, on the Local Distribution Networks. In practice, therefore to maintain supplies to Protected Customers as defined above, it is necessary to make provision for all customers that are not separately isolatable on these local networks. For the purposes of calculation within the Regulation therefore, the gas demand from the relevant networks will be used.
- Provide information on Long Term Contracts
DECC have notified the Commission following the information gathering exercise detailed below.
- Provide information on Inter-Governmental Agreements
DECC have notified the Commission, as required.
8 November 2011: DECC publishes a risk assessment as required by the Regulation.