Conexus sets curtailments on transmission exit capacity to Incukalns underground gas storage

From July 15, 2019 the combined transmission system and storage operator Conexus Baltic Grid sets curtailments on transmission exit capacity to Incukalns underground gas storage (hereinafter – the storage). The capacity is limited to 104 GWh per day starting from July 15 to end of the injection season. In order to minimize impact to the market, injection season is prolonged until November 13, 2019. 

Article 17(1) of Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005 entitles the system operator to make available the maximum storage facility to market participants, subject to the limitations of the system integrity and operation. Conexus Baltic Grid explains that the capacity limitation is caused by steep pressure increase in the reservoir, significantly deviating from the expected operational regime.

The pressure in reservoir (collector structure) is impacted by several factors, including current injection regime and operational regime of the storage in prior seasons. After market opening in 2017, storage has been filled from 56% to 62% of total capacity. 2019/2020 storage booking reach 70% of total storage volume. In order to ensure storage users ability to use already booked storage capacity and limit the pace of increase of the pressure in reservoir thus ensuring uninterrupted injection of the gas into the storage, storage operator adopted the decision to introduce cap on injection capacity and to prolong the injection season. With capped injection capacity, monthly injection volume would reach 3.2 TWh, allowing to inject volumes already booked by the market. The applicable Article 147(6) of Rules of Use of the Natural Gas Transmission System establishes the rights of transmission system operator to, without prior notice, inter alia, restrict input of natural gas into the transmission system, transportation and off-take thereof from the transmission system if there are deviations from normal operational mode in the storage facility.

Regardless of capacity limitations, storage operator is actively testing new regimes of injection with the aim to provide market participants with maximum injection capacity while maintaining uninterrupted operation during the injection season. Taking into account the on-going tests, volume of gas physically injected in the storage during the gas day may differ from the announced cap and approved nominations.

Taking into account that the current physical congestion management principles described in the Rules of Use of the Inčukalns Underground Gas Storage Facility do not provide sufficient remedy to the actual situation  and considering the aim to make market able use all capacity physically injected in the storage, from July 15, Conexus sets following detailed procedure for allocations on exit to the storage.

• Nomination are approved up to capacity of 104 GWH, proportionally to non-used capacity of SBU and two year product at the start of gas day. Conexus wants to remind that nomination proportionality is recalculated for all market participants during the gas day if any market participant sends new nomination or re-nomination.
• After gas day closing, operator prepares allocation for prior gas day. Allocation for exit to the storage will be reviewed based on physically injected volume, proportional to approved prior day nominations.
• If physically injected volume is more than market nominations on particular day, extra volume will be brought forward for next gas day. 
• In order to allow market to follow actual situation, transmission system operator at 3.30 am will send market participants information on volume of gas injected in storage for current gas day. Until 4am market participants are allowed to make re-nominations for current gas day.
• Until 2pm of current gas day, transmission system operator will inform market participants about additional gas volume available for allocations from prior days.

Allocations at other entry and exit points of the transmission system are done in compliance with the Rules of Use of the Natural Gas Transmission System, excluding any adjustments available for balancing positions from quantities in the storage.

The combined system operator would like to invite market participants to follow published updates on the situation of the GIE AGSI+ database (https://agsi.gie.eu) for the Incukalns UGS and ENTSOG Transparency platform (https://transparency.entsog.eu) for transmission capacity related information as well as publications on company’s web-page https://capacity.conexus.lv