Implementation of the Network Code on Capacity Allocation Mechanisms is progressing, although further steps are needed to promote the full implementation of the code, the agency for the cooperation of energy regulators (ACER) said.
ACER found in its Implementation Monitoring Report that the there was an average implementation level of 82% of NC CAM provisions across Member States.
The implementation level is high on the core requirements such as the auctioning of standard capacity products via booking platforms (94%). Nevertheless, “a full implementation was only achieved by Belgium and the UK, while a few Member States are lagging behind,” ACER said.
The NC CAM applies to European Interconnection Points since 1 November 2015. The implementation of the NC CAM provisions facilitates gas transport and gas trading across the EU. Specifically, the code promotes and defines harmonised capacity allocation mechanisms in the form of auction procedures and a set of standardised bundled cross border capacity products at IPs between entry-exit zones.
Among the issues noted by ACER, there's the still incomplete implementation of bundled capacity offers via booking platforms. When completed, “this should enable network users to easily access and nominate cross-zonal capacities.”
Moreover, ACER said it supports the further development of Virtual Interconnection Points (VIPs) as “another important measure to simplify the commercial layer of gas transport and capacity handling for network users.” Therefore, it urged TSOs to start or continue their analyses and subsequently realise all possible VIPs before early November 2018.