Reporting Obligations Of European Gas TSOs

Obligation To Report Transportation Transaction Data

According to the Article 6(2) of the EU Commission Implementing Regulation No. 1348/2014, the EU gas TSOs or third parties acting on their behalf (i.e. RRMs) have the obligation to report to ACER the details of gas transportation contracts concluded as a result of a primary explicit capacity allocation by or on behalf of the EU gas TSOs.
The Article 7(5) of the Regulation stipulates that the details of these contracts must be reported no later than the working day following the availability of the allocation results.
The gas transportation contracts must be reported to ACER with the details set out in the Table 4 of the Annex to the Regulation¹.
Only the details of gas transportation contracts between the entry and exit points located in balancing zones need to be reported to ACER. The details of gas transportation contracts between delivery points located in non-balancing zones or between a delivery point located in a non-balancing zone and a delivery point located in a balancing zone do not need to be reported to ACER².
According to the Section 7 of REMIT Transaction Reporting User Manual (TRUM), the transportation transaction data should be provided for the following bookable points of the gas transmission system:
(a) all interconnection points;
(b) entry points of production facilities;
(c) exit points connected to the end customers with a consumption capacity greater than 600 GWh per year;
(d) entry and exit points to and from storage;
(e) entry and exit points to and from LNG facilities and physical hubs³.

In case of transport contracts for bundled capacity at the cross-border interconnection points, each TSO involved at the interconnection point should report its contractual part of the bundled transaction⁴.
In the event that the network users who are parties to unbundled transport contracts at an interconnection point reach an agreement on the bundling of the capacity, they will have to inform the TSOs involved at the respective interconnection point⁵. Both the network users and TSOs shall report to the relevant national regulatory authorities the bundling arrangements reached by the parties to the existing transport contracts⁶.
In the event that a transport contract for unbundled capacity is modified by converting the unbundled capacity into bundled capacity, the modification should be reported to ACER.
ACER has considered two approaches for reporting a fully converted contract⁷:

1. By Reporting A New Contract
If the capacity amount of the unbundled transport contract is reduced to zero, this should be reported to ACER as a modification of the existing contract. In addition, a new contract should be reported – the transport contract for bundled capacity that contains the whole amount of the capacity.

2. Without Reporting A New Contract
The conversion of unbundled capacity into bundled capacity is reported as a modification of the existing transport contract. In such case, the TSOs or RRMs reporting on their behalf should update
the information filled in the Table 4 Data Fields No. 2 – 13 (information covering the allocation process), the information filled in the Table 4 Data Fields No. 14 (information on the lifecycle reporting), the information filled in the Table 4 Data Fields No. 21 (information on the premium price) and the information filled in the Table 4 Data Fields No. 26 (information on the specifications of bundling and on the counter TSO).

In the event of conversion of only part of the unbundled capacity into bundled capacity, ACER recommends the following procedure:
- the original transport contract is modified by reducing the capacity amount by the part of the capacity that is converted into bundled capacity (updating the information in Table 4 Data Field No. 15); and
- the part of the capacity that is converted into bundled capacity is reported as a new transport contract for bundled capacity⁸.
Any modification of the gas transportation contracts such as those involving the conversion of unbundled capacity into bundled capacity must be reported no later than the working day following the modification.
The EU gas TSOs have also the obligation to report to ACER the options, futures, swaps and any other derivatives of contracts relating to the transportation of natural gas in the EU.

Obligation To Report Fundamental Data

Reporting Of Fundamental Data Relating To The Capacity And Use Of Facilities For Transmission Of Natural Gas (Gas Transmission Data)

TSOs shall provide the fundamental data relating to the capacity and use of facilities for transmission of natural gas, including any planned and unplanned unavailability of these facilities, through ENTSOG Transparency Platform in accordance with the provisions of Article 9(1) of the EU Commission Implementing Regulation No. 1348/2014. The information required to be provided  through ENTSOG Transparency Platform is stipulated in points 3.3(1) and 3.3(5) of Annex I to EU Regulation No. 715/2009: i.e.
a) the daily situation of the technical, contracted and available firm capacity⁹ at each relevant point of the transmission system operated by the TSO;
b) the daily situation of the total, contracted and available interruptible capacity at each relevant point of the transmission system operated by the TSO;
c) the aggregated day-ahead nominations and final re-nominations for each relevant point of the transmission system operated by the TSO for each reported gas day;
d) physical flow at each relevant point for each reported gas day;
e) planned and actual interruption of interruptible capacity at each relevant point of the transmission system operated by the TSO;
f) planned and unplanned interruptions to firm services.
Notices with regard to the interruptions caused by the planned maintenance of the transmission system and the estimated duration of such interruptions must be published by TSOs at least 42 days in advance. During the maintenance periods, TSOs must provide updates on the details of and expected duration and effect of the maintenance.
ENTSOG shall make such information available to ACER as soon as it becomes available on the ENTSOG Transparency Platform.

Reporting Of Fundamental Data Relating To Gas Nominations (Gas Nomination Data)

According to the Article 9(2) of the EU Commission Implementing Regulation No. 1348/2014, the EU gas TSOs have the obligation to report to ACER, and on request, to the national regulatory authorities the day-ahead nominations and final re-nominations of booked capacities specifying the identity of the market participants (network users) involved and the allocated quantities.
The gas nomination data should be provided for the following points of the transmission system:
(a) all interconnection points;
(b) entry points of production facilities including of upstream pipelines;
(c) exit points connected to the end customers with a consumption capacity greater than 600 GWh per year;
(d) entry and exit points to and from storage;
(e) entry and exit points to and from LNG facilities;
(f) entry and exit points to and from physical and virtual hubs.
The gas nomination data must be reported using the data fields presented in the Annex IV.IV of REMIT Manual of Procedures on transaction data, fundamental data and inside information reporting.
The gas nomination data should be reported by the end of the working day following the end of the reporting gas day. Taking into consideration the fact that a gas day runs from 06:00 a.m. of one day to 06:00 a.m. of the following day, for instance, from 06:00 a.m. on 28 January 2021 to 06:00 a.m. on 29 January 2021, the gas nomination data should be reported no later than the end of the following working day, i.e. by the end of 30 January 2021.

Obligation To Report Inside Information

The EU gas TSOs are considered to be "market participants" under REMIT¹⁰ if they enter into transactions in one or more wholesale energy markets¹¹.
According to the Article 4(1) of REMIT, the EU gas TSOs have the obligation as "market participants" to publicly disclose in an effective and timely manner the inside information¹² which they possess in respect of their business or facilities, including the maintenance information which is required to be made public in accordance with the EU Regulation No. 715/2009 and the information relating to the planned or unplanned unavailability of facilities for transmission of natural gas.
The inside information related to the planned or unplanned unavailability of facilities for transmission of natural gas has to be reported in the form of Urgent Market Messages (UMMs) via web feeds on the TSO`s web site and on a platform for the disclosure of inside information<sup>13</sup>.
The Article 10(1) of the EU Commission Implementing Regulation No. 1348/2014 stipulates that the market participants disclosing inside information on their website or service providers disclosing such information on market participants` behalf shall provide web feeds to enable the ACER to collect efficiently inside information for market monitoring purposes.
ACER shall identify the location of the web feed through the URL address provided by the TSO at the time of registration as "market participant"¹⁴.
The reporting schema for the disclosure of inside information related to the planned or unplanned unavailability of facilities for transmission of natural gas is presented in Annex VII of REMIT Manual of Procedures on transaction data, fundamental data and inside information reporting¹⁵. The schema contains 18 fields:
In the Field 1 "Message ID" must be inserted the unique identifier of the UMM.
In the Field 2 "Event Status" must be stated the status of the UMM, i.e. Active, Dismissed or Inactive. The term "Active" must be inserted when referring to an event that will occur in the future or is occurring. The term "Dismissed" refers to an UMM that was cancelled and is not valid anymore. The term "Inactive" has to be inserted when referring to an event that already occurred in the past. The UMM related to an event may be updated several times before, during or after the event, whenever the Event Status changes. However, it is not mandatory to insert the term "Inactive" when the date and time of the event have expired. The status value "Active" can be maintained for UMMs referring to past events¹⁶.
In the Field 3 "Type of Unavailability" must be stated whether the unavailability was planned or not, using the words "planned" or "unplanned" to indicate the type of unavailability. A planned  transmission system unavailability occurs in case of scheduled maintenance or repair works. An unplanned transmission system unavailability occurs in case of the occurrence of exceptional events.
In the Field 4/b "Type of Event", the TSOs can state the subject of the unavailability as  "Transmission system unavailability" or "Compressor station unavailability", as the case may be. In case of other types of unavailability, the TSOs can state the subject of the unavailability as "Other unavailability".
In the Field 5 "Publication date/time" it is shown the date and time when the UMM was made publicly available, i.e. when the inside information was disclosed to the public through the UMM. This information is generated automatically when the UMM is published.
In the Field 6 "Event Start", the TSOs must state the expected (if it is a future event) or actual starting time and date of the relevant event. If the exact time of the "Event Start" is not known at the time of the publication of UMM, the TSOs should insert an estimated time rounded to the nearest hour and the UMM should be updated once the information on the event allows the TSO to provide more accurate information as to the starting time.
In the Field 7 "Event Stop", the TSOs must state the expected (if it is a future event) or actual time and date at which the relevant event stops. If the exact time of the "Event Stop" is not known at the time of the publication of the UMM, the TSOs should insert an estimated time rounded to the nearest hour and the UMM should be updated once the information on the event allows the TSO to provide more accurate information.
In the Field 8 "Unit of measurement", the TSO must state the unit used for reporting unavailable capacity, available capacity and technical capacity at the connection point affected by the reported event during the unavailability period, which can either be kWh/h or kWh/d.
In the Field 9 "Unavailable capacity", the TSOs must state the technical capacity that will be unavailable due to the reported capacity restriction.
In the Field 10 "Available capacity", the TSOs must state the technical capacity that will remain available during the reported capacity restriction.
In the Field 11/b "Technical capacity", the TSO must state the maximum firm capacity that it can offer to the network users at the connection point affected by the reported event.
In the Field 12 "Reason for the unavailability", the TSO must provide an explanation on the cause of the unavailability, e.g. curtailment of capacities due to planned maintenance works or the occurrence of exceptional events.
In the Field 13 "Remarks", the TSO must provide more detailed information of the event to allow a full understanding of its potential impact on the wholesale energy prices. For instance, in case of planned maintenance at conversion installations, there will be a lesser amount of nitrogen available for conversion of high-quality gases into lower-quality gases. In case of planned maintenance works, there will be a lesser capacity available at the named connection point.
In the Field 15/b "Balancing Zone", the TSO must identify the balancing zone where the affected asset is located using the EIC Y Code for the respective balancing zone.
In the Field 16 "Affected Asset or Unit", the TSO must state the connection point name where the event is about to occur or is occurring.
In the Field 17 "Affected Asset or Unit EIC Code", the TSO must state the EIC Z Code of the  connection point that is unavailable.
In the Field 18 "Market Participant", it must be inserted the official name of the market participant that is responsible for the public disclosure of the inside information (i.e. transmission system operator) related to the event described in the UMM.
In the Field 19 "Market Participant Code", the TSO must provide the ACER registration code, which the TSO received when it registered as "market participant" with the national regulatory authority.
The UMMs should be stored for a time period of at least 90 days after the submission via the web feeds.


by Vlad Cioarec, International Trade Consultant

This article has been published in Commoditylaw`s Gas Trade Review Edition No. 1.


Endnotes:

1. See the Article 5(1)(d) of the EU Commission Implementing Regulation No. 1348/2014. For details of how to report the gas transportation contracts see the Annex III.IV (Data fields for gas transportation data reporting) of REMIT Manual of Procedures on transaction data, fundamental data and inside information reporting and REMIT Transaction Reporting User Manual (TRUM) – Annex II – Section 3 Part III available on REMIT Portal: https://www.acer-remit.eu/portal/home.
2. See ACER Answers to Questions 4.2.19 and 4.2.20 in ACER document "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on REMIT transaction reporting (11th Edition)" available on REMIT Portal: https://www.acer-remit.eu/portal/home.
3. See Section 7 of REMIT Transaction Reporting User Manual (TRUM).
4. See Section 7 of REMIT Transaction Reporting User Manual (TRUM).
5. See the provisions of Article 21 paragraphs 1 and 4 of the EU Commission Regulation No. 459/2017
6. See the provisions of Article 21 paragraphs 1 and 4 of the EU Commission Regulation No. 459/2017
7. See ACER Answers to Questions 4.2.23 in ACER document "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on REMIT transaction reporting (11th Edition)" available on REMIT Portal: https://www.acer-remit.eu/portal/home.
8. See ACER Answers to Questions 4.2.23 in ACER document "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on REMIT transaction reporting (11th Edition)" available on REMIT Portal: https://www.acer-remit.eu/portal/home.
9. "Technical capacity" is the maximum firm capacity that the transmission system operator can offer to the network users, taking account of system integrity and the operational requirements of the transmission network. "Contracted capacity" is the capacity that the transmission system operator has allocated to a network user by means of a transport contract. "Available capacity" is the part of the technical capacity that is not allocated and is still available to the system at that moment. See Article 2(1) of EU Regulation No. 715/2009.
10. EU Regulation No. 1227/2011 on wholesale energy market integrity and transparency.
11. See Sub-section 3.4 of ACER Guidance on the application of REMIT.
12. According to the Article 2(1) of REMIT, "inside information" means information of a precise nature which has not been made public, which relates, directly or indirectly, to one or more wholesale energy products and which, if it were made public, would be likely to significantly affect the prices of those wholesale energy products.
13. A platform for the disclosure of inside information is an electronic system for the delivery of information which allows multiple market participants to share information with the wide public. See Sub-section 7.1 of ACER`s Manual of Procedures on transaction data, fundamental data and inside information reporting. The list of the third party inside information platforms is available on REMIT Portal: https://www.acer-remit.eu/portal/home.
14. The URL address must be provided in the Section 1 of the registration form under the field "Publication of inside information".
15. See the schema for UMMs related to "Unavailability of gas facilities".
16. See ACER Answer to Question 5.1.3 in ACER document "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on REMIT fundamental data and inside information collection (6th Edition)" available on REMIT Portal: https://www.acer-remit.eu/portal/home.