GAZ-SYSTEM obtained approval from President of URE to trade within adjacent balancing zones
President of URE granted approval to GAZ-SYSTEM to trade within adjacent balancing zones and to transport gas to and from these balancing zones[1].
The Regulator’s decision will be in force from 1 October 2024[2] till 1 October 2025.
The approval is an alternative to the trading of title products and/or locational products in the TSO’s own balancing area. However, it is subject to annual review, and in the view of the approaching expiry date of the previous decision[3], the operator applied to the President of URE for the approval to continue the activity in question for another year.
The approval of gas trading in neighbouring areas applies to both domestic high-methane gas balancing areas and neighbouring balancing areas that are located outside the borders of the Republic of Poland.
The decision of 20 September 2024 was issued in accordance with the Commission Regulation establishing a Network Code on Gas Balancing of Transmission Networks[4]. Before issuing the decision, the President of URE considered the TSO’s application in terms of the impact of the operator’s activities indicated therein on improving the functioning of the domestic gas market. The regulator also took into account the need to ensure the security and integrity of the transmission system and the access to and use by the network users of gas transmission capacity at interconnection points.
- System balancing is an economic activity carried out by the TSO, which consists in the balancing of the demand for with the supply of gaseous fuels, including physical and commercial balancing;
- Physical balancing is the activity of the TSO aimed at the balancing the quantities of gaseous fuel delivered to and off-taken from the transmission system;
- Commercial balancing is the activity of the TSO that consists in determining and settling the imbalance resulting from the difference between the quantities of gaseous fuel delivered and received in the balancing area. The commercial balancing does not include any necessary reconciliation between the allocation and the actual consumption which was subsequently determined on the basis of readings from the measuring instruments of final customers;
- Balancing area means an entry-exit system subject to a specific balancing scheme applies, which may include distribution systems or parts of such systems;
- A balancing action is an action undertaken by a transmission system operator with a view to change gas flows into or out of the transmission network, excluding actions where gas is not accounted for as offtake from the system, or where gas is consumed by the operator for the system’s process needs.
[1] Decision ref. no.: DRR.WRG.745.7.2024.MJS of 20 September 2024
[2] The new gas year begins on 1 October 2024
[3] The Decision of the President of URE of 13 September 2023, ref. no.: DRR.WRG.745.8.2023.MJS was issued for the period from 1 October 2023 till 1 October 2024
[4] Article 9(3) of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 312/2014 of 26 March 2014 establishing a Network Code on Gas Balancing of Transmission Networks