European Union strengthens its strategy to end its historic crisis dependence on russian gas. As an answer Military occupation of UkraineEuropean countries created a shield to reduce imports from Russia (searching for alternative supplier countries, compulsory gas storage, reducing consumption…) and now they will take a step. new joint gas intake system.
Member states are obliged to participate in the European mechanism. minimum gas volume by the end of the year. Each country must ensure that their companies contribute to the joint procurement system the equivalent of 15% of the mandatory filling level, which corresponds to 90% of the capacity of their warehouses (ie 14% of the total capacity) to be reached for the coming winter. ). In the case of Spain, this obligation means that a total of 4.8 terawatt hours (TWh) of gas must be added to the community supply by the end of this year.
Each country has to choose how to guarantee compliance with the minimum contribution set by Brussels. Some states, such as Poland, have chosen to designate a list of companies that have to pass part of their gas supply through the European common purchasing system. Spanish government excludes force companies and industrial groups The Spaniards will participate in the joint procurement mechanism and establish all legal obligations.
Execution anticipates thatCompanies will participate voluntarily.Maintain direct contacts with the country’s gas trading companies and major industrial consumers that are stated to be interested in making joint purchases, without the need to create any legal obligations to comply with the mandatory commitment to contribute 15% of 90% of the Spanish gas storage capacity.
The first auction is in May.
The European Union will activate the joint gas purchases mechanism this week to hold the first tender next May. The European Commission has launched a digital platform called AggregateAB, It will serve to bring together buyers and sellers who will have to bring together gas purchase requests and sales offers from energy companies, ensure initial matching of supply and demand, and then negotiate specific supply price terms.
The European Commission is holding a kind of road show in the capitals of Twenty-Seven to explain the technical details of the process to the companies involved. Last week the meeting was held in Spain. More than seventy Spanish companies participated among energy and industrial companies In the case of Spain, the participating national companies include both potential buyers (marketers and industries) and sellers (energy groups that will resell gas through the community mechanism).
Brussels will allow European companies interested in joint purchases to post their gas offers and solicitations on the platform from April 25 to May 2, after which the first auction will take place next month. The process will be repeated every two months to hold tenders until July of next year.
Russian gas banned from the system
The main objective is to promote reduction of Russian gas imports across Europe by facilitating the diversification of suppliers, with a focus on consolidating the increase in gas purchases from the United States, Algeria, Azerbaijan or Norway.
Therefore, the new community mechanism prohibits the participation of any company that has partners or ties to Russia For the purpose of buying and selling Russian gas, commercialization is directly vetoed. Financially strangling Vladimir Putin’s government in full war
The new community system will serve to facilitate the signing of medium-term supply contracts by making it possible to match bid and demand for periods of one to twelve months, which in principle will serve to partially mitigate the effects of market volatility. consumption and indirectly on the overall price of the gas market.
All plants in Spain
Given that all of Spain’s regasification plants (those who send and receive gas by ships) will be included as a potential entry point for marketed gas, it is desirable to play an important role in the new mechanism. The Spanish market has an extensive network of six regasification plants, concentrating a third of all capacity in the EU.
The energy crisis is causing a historic shock in the ranking of suppliers and buyers in the foreign trade of gas in Spain. major energy purchasing and re-export center In the midst of an economic and energy quake brought about by the military invasion of Russia.
River bank
Gas export from Spain This amounted to the equivalent of 73,186 gigawatt hours (GWh), up 88% since the start of the war and through last February, both by ship and by gas pipeline to other countries, according to the Strategic Reserves Corporation (Cores). . European countries are by far the main target for gas exports, intensifying 90% of sales in the last twelve months (compared to 65% weight in 2021).