Reporting Obligations Of European Storage System Operators
Who Would Qualify As SSO ?
Pursuant to the Article 2(10) of the EU Directive No. 73/2009, "storage system operator" means a natural or legal person who carries out the function of storage and is responsible for operating a storage facility. The Article 2(9) of the EU Directive No. 73/2009 stipulates that "storage facility" means a facility used for the stocking of natural gas and owned and/or operated by a natural gas undertaking, including the part of LNG facilities used for storage but excluding the portion used for production operations, and excluding facilities reserved exclusively for transmission system operators in carrying out their functions.
This means that not only the operators of underground gas storage facilities, such as salt caverns, depleted gas fields and aquifer structures, would qualify as storage system operators, but also the operators of LNG peak shaving facilities, with the exception of the LNG peak shaving facilities used exclusively by TSOs in carrying out their functions, and the LNG terminal operators who provide LNG storage services other than the temporary storage necessary for the regasification process, e.g. LNG storage for peak shaving, LNG storage for reloading service, berth-to-berth transshipment service and loading of LNG bunkering vessels.
Obligation To Report Inside Information
The Storage System Operators or SSOs are explicitly mentioned as "market participants" in the Article 3(4)(b) of REMIT1 and are therefore considered market participants if they enter into transactions in one or more wholesale energy markets for the sale or purchase of natural gas2.
According to the Article 4(1) of REMIT, the Storage System Operators have the obligation as "market participants" to publicly disclose in an effective and timely manner the inside information3 which they possess in respect of their business or facilities, particularly the information related to the planned or unplanned unavailability of their gas storage facilities.
The inside information related to the planned or unplanned unavailability of gas storage facilities has to be reported in the form of Urgent Market Messages (UMMs) via web feeds on the Storage System Operator`s website and on a platform for the disclosure of inside information4.
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 Storage System Operator at the time of registration as "market participant"5.
The reporting schema for the disclosure of inside information related to the planned or unplanned unavailability of gas storage facilities is presented in Annex VII of REMIT Manual of Procedures on transaction data, fundamental data and inside information reporting6. 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 events7.
In the Field 3 "Type of Unavailability", the Storage System Operator must state whether the unavailability was planned or not, using the words "planned" or "unplanned" to indicate the type of unavailability. A planned unavailability occurs in case of scheduled maintenance or repair works. An unplanned unavailability occurs in case of unforeseen technical problems.
In the Field 4/b "Type of Event", the Storage System Operator can state the type of event as "Storage unavailability", "Injection unavailability", "Withdrawal unavailability", "Compressor station unavailability" or "Gas treatment plant unavailability", as the case may be. In case of other types of unavailability, the type of event should be stated 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 Storage System Operator 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 Storage System Operator should insert an estimated time rounded to the nearest hour and the UMM should be updated once the information on the event allows the Storage System Operator to provide more accurate information as to the starting time.
In the Field 7 "Event Stop", the Storage System Operator 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 UMM, the Storage System Operator should insert an estimated time rounded to the nearest hour and the UMM should be updated once the information on the event allows the Storage System Operator to provide more accurate information.
In the Field 8 "Unit of measurement", the Storage System Operator must state the unit used for reporting unavailable capacity, available capacity and technical capacity of the storage facility affected by the reported event during the unavailability period.
In case of "Storage unavailability", the SSO can state the working gas capacity in TWh.
In case of "Injection unavailability", the SSO should state the injection capacity (rate) in GWh/d.
In case of "Withdrawal unavailability", the SSO should state the withdrawal capacity in GWh/d.
In case of "Compressor station unavailability", the SSO should state the compressor capacity in GWh/d.
In case of "Gas treatment plant unavailability", the SSO should state the gas processing plant capacity in GWh/d.
In the Field 9 "Unavailable capacity", the Storage System Operator must state the technical capacity of the affected unit that will be unavailable due to the event.
In case of a limitation of the storage capacity, the Storage System Operator must state the working gas capacity of the storage facility that will be unavailable during to the reported event.
In case of a limitation of the injection capacity, the Storage System Operator must state how much the injection rate of the storage facility will be reduced during the reported event.
In case of a limitation of the withdrawal capacity, the Storage System Operator must state how much the withdrawal rate of the storage facility will be reduced during the reported event.
In the Field 10 "Available capacity", the Storage System Operator must state the technical capacity of the affected unit that will remain available during the reported event.
In case of a limitation of the storage capacity, the Storage System Operator must state the working gas capacity of the storage facility that will remain available during to the reported event.
In case of a limitation of the injection capacity, the Storage System Operator must state the available injection capacity (rate) of the storage facility during the reported event.
In case of a limitation of the withdrawal capacity, the Storage System Operator must state the available withdrawal capacity (rate) of the storage facility during the reported event.
In the Field 11/b "Technical capacity", the Storage System Operator must state the capacity of the storage facility in a gas day in normal conditions.
In case of storage facility unavailability, the Storage System Operator must state the working gas capacity of the storage facility, i.e. the total gas storage capacity minus the cushion gas.
In case of injection unavailability, the Storage System Operator must state the injection capacity (rate) of the storage facility, i.e. the amount of gas that can be injected into the storage facility on a daily basis.
In case of withdrawal unavailability, the Storage System Operator must state the withdrawal capacity (rate) of the storage facility, i.e. the amount of gas that can be withdrawn from the storage facility on a daily basis.
In the Field 12 "Reason for the unavailability", the Storage System Operator must provide an explanation on the cause of the unavailability, such as "Planned maintenance of the storage facility".
In the Field 13 "Remarks", the Storage System Operator must provide more detailed information of the event to allow a full understanding of its potential impact on the wholesale energy prices. For instance, "Reduction of working gas capacity by up to 40%", "Reduction of injection rate by up to 40%", "Reduction of withdrawal rate by up to 40%".
In the Field 15/b "Balancing Zone", the Storage System Operator must identify the balancing zone where the gas storage facility is located, using the EIC Y Code for the respective balancing zone.
If the storage facility is connected to two or more balancing zones, the Storage System Operator must indicate the EIC Y codes for each of the respective balancing zones. The first EIC Y Code should refer to the entry point where the flow starts, whilst the second and the following EIC Y Code(s) should refer to the exit point(s) where the flow ends. If the outage is related to the flow from the storage facility towards the gas transmission system, the first EIC Y Code should be that of the balancing zone where the gas storage facility is located, whilst the second should be the EIC Y Code of the exit point.
In the Field 16 "Affected Asset or Unit", the Storage System Operator must state the official name of the gas storage facility where the event is about to occur.
In the Field 17 "Affected Asset or Unit EIC Code", the Storage System Operator must state the EIC W Code of the gas storage facility 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. Storage System Operator) related to the event described in the UMM.
In the Field 19 "Market Participant Code", the Storage System Operator must provide the EIC X Code assigned by ENTSOG or the ACER registration code, which the Storage System Operator 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.
Obligation To Report Fundamental Data Relating To Gas Storage
The Storage System Operators have the obligation to report to ACER, and on request, to the national regulatory authorities the information relating to the capacity and use of gas storage facilities they operate, including any planned or unplanned unavailability of these facilities.
The Article 9(7) of the EU Commission Implementing Regulation No. 1348/2014 stipulates that the Storage System Operators must report to ACER, and on request, to the national regulatory authorities for each gas storage facility and in case of facilities operated in groups, for each group of gas storage facilities the following information through a joint platform:
(a) the technical, contracted and available capacity of the gas storage facility;
(b) volume of gas in stock at the end of the gas day, inflows (injections) and outflows (withdrawals) for each gas day;
(c) the planned and unplanned unavailability announcements of the gas storage facility, including the time of the announcement and the capacities concerned.
This information is referred to as "fundamental data" in Article 2(1) of the EU Commission Implementing Regulation No. 1348/2014.
The purpose of fundamental data reporting under REMIT is to enable ACER and national regulatory authorities in the EU Member States to monitor trading activity in wholesale energy markets.
The details of how to report fundamental data related to gas storage are provided in ACER`s REMIT Storage Reporting Schema Usage Guidelines and ACER`s Manual of Procedures on transaction data, fundamental data and inside information reporting. According to ACER`s Manual of Procedures on transaction data, fundamental data and inside information reporting, the Storage System Operators must provide to ACER, and on request, to the national regulatory authority the following reports:
- the Storage Facility Report; and
- the Storage Unavailability Report.
In the Storage Facility Report, the Storage System Operators must provide the information required in Article 9(7)(a) and (b) of the EU Commission Implementing Regulation No. 1348/2014, i.e. daily updates with regard to the technical, contracted and available capacity of the gas storage facility, the volume of gas in stock and the volume of gas injected and withdrawn from the gas storage facility. This information must be reported no later than the next working day following the reported gas day.
"Technical Capacity" is the working gas capacity of the storage facility, i.e. the total gas storage capacity minus the cushion gas. In the case of a LNG storage facility, the technical capacity is the workable capacity of LNG storage tanks. The technical capacity must be reported in TWh.
"Injection Capacity" is the maximum amount of gas that can be injected into the storage facility per day.
"Withdrawal Capacity" is the maximum amount of gas that can be withdrawn from the storage facility per day.
"Contracted Capacity" is the storage capacity that the reporting Storage System Operator has allocated to market participants by means of a contract. The contracted capacity must be reported in TWh.
"Available Capacity" is the storage capacity that has not been allocated to market participants and is still available. The available capacity must be reported in TWh.
The volume of gas in stock on the reported gas day must be reported in TWh.
The volume of gas injected into and withdrawn from the gas storage facility must be reported in GWh/day.
The Storage Facility Report should also mention:
- the Storage Facility Identifier – EIC W Code assigned by ENTSOG to the storage facility;
- the Storage Facility Operator Identifier - EIC X Code assigned by ENTSOG to the Storage System Operator;
- the type of storage facility to be indicated as one of the following types:
(DSR) Underground Storage in a Depleted Gas Reservoir
(ASR) Underground Storage in an Aquifer Gas Reservoir
(ASF) Underground Storage in a Salt Formation
(SGL) in the case of LNG storage facilities (LNG peak shaving facilities or LNG terminals which store LNG for peak shaving or for other purposes than operational storage)
(PPC) Storage in Existing Pipeline Capacity
(GHT) Above Ground Storage in a Gas Holder
(SRC) Underground Storage in a Rock Cavern
The Storage Unavailability Report should be used by the Storage System Operators to report any planned or unplanned unavailability of a storage facility for a gas day or period within a gas day in accordance with the Article 9(7)(c) of the EU Commission Implementing Regulation No. 1348/2014.
The Storage System Operator must provide in the Storage Unavailability Report the following information:
- the Storage Facility Identifier – EIC W Code assigned by ENTSOG to the storage facility;
- the Storage Facility Operator Identifier - EIC X Code assigned by ENTSOG to the Storage System Operator;
- the unavailable storage capacity to be reported in TWh;
- the unavailable injection capacity to be reported in GWh/day;
- the unavailable withdrawal capacity to be reported in GWh/day;
- the unavailability type, i.e. whether the outage was planned or unplanned;
- the date(s) and period(s) of time when the planned or unplanned outage(s) of the storage facility will occur;
- the cause of the unavailability.
The Storage Unavailability Report must be sent as soon as the relevant information becomes available.
by Vlad Cioarec, International Trade Consultant
This article has been published in Commoditylaw`s Gas Trade Review Edition No. 2.
Endnotes:
1. EU Regulation No. 1227/2011 on wholesale energy market integrity and transparency.
2. See Sub-section 3.4 of ACER Guidance on the application of REMIT.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. The URL address must be provided in the Section 1 of the registration form under the field "Publication of inside information".
6. See the schema for UMMs related to "Unavailability of gas facilities".
7. 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.