Benchmarking could still play role in EU gas network access tariffs – report

Discussions over how best to set the pricing for access to a single European gas network have been taking place in Spain between regulatory bodies and the industry, according to a report in the trade press.

Platts reports that industry officials from Germany and the trade association Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIA) are keen that benchmarking should be part of the methodology when calculating national network access tariffs, but initial EU proposals envisage an entirely cost-based approach.

The report adds that discussions were also held on how the industry should interpret rules from the European Commission on network capacity allocation and congestion management issues.

It is likely, Platts reports, that capacity allocation principles will be used to ensure maximum capacity is available to the market – an issue that has caused tension in recent times as disputes have flared up over the utilization of the Belgium-UK Interconnector.