This Regulation is enacted u nder subsection 6 and 7 of § 102, subsections 11, 12 and 13 of § 12, subsection 3 of § 122, subsection 2 of § 173 and subsection 12 of § 24 of the Natural Gas Act.
Chapter 1 General Provisions
§ 1. Scope of Application
This Regulation lays down:
1) the requirements and rules regarding the changing of the open supplier;
2) the requirements concerning data exchange between market participants;
3) the rights and obligations related to the balance obligation;
4) the conditions concerning the determination of fixed and variable guarantees for balance providers;
5) the rules regarding the provision of information to the data exchange platform and the list of particulars to be stated on the certificates of origin;
6) the quality requirements for the gas to be introduced to the gas system and the quality requirements for biomethane;
7) the base data for converting quantities of gas to energy units and guidelines that network operators must observe when converting metered quantities of gas to energy units.
§ 2. Definitions
The terms used in this Regulation are defined as follows:
1) ‘ EIC code’ means a unique identifying indication which is assigned to the market participant and to the metering point on the basis of a unified coding system and which is required in order to automate the data exchange concerning market participants operating in the gas market;
2) ‘metering point’ means a point in the gas piping at which the quantity of gas passing through a cross-section of the pipe is metered;
3) ‘point of consumption’ means the metering point identified by the network contract for the market participant’s gas installation, or a set of metering points which are physically connected by means of the market participant’s gas installation and in respect of which it is possible for the market participant to conclude an open supply contract, provided they have the corresponding valid network contract;
4) ‘remote reading device’ means a metering device which, at least by each balance period, records and stores the results of metering the quantity of gas passing through the metering point, and allows these to be transmitted automatically;
5) local reading device’ means a metering device that does not allow the results of metering the quantity of gas passing through the metering point during a balance period to be transmitted automatically;
6) ‘metering data’ means the quantity of gas which has been measured by the metering device and which has passed through the metering point;
7) ‘boundary metering point’ means a metering point located on the boundary between two network operator’s networks;
8) ‘virtual metering point’ means a means to determine the quantities of gas of those market participants for whom, under the network contract, no metering system is to be installed, or if, in order to determine the quantities consumed, quantities of gas metered at different metering points need to be used.
Chapter 2 Balance Responsibility
Division 1 Balance Provider’s Guarantee
§ 3. Balance provider’s guarantee
(1) The amount of the balance provider’s fixed guarantee to be provided concerning fulfilment of the obligations assumed under the balance contract is 30,000 euros, which must remain valid through the period of validity of the balance contract and at least for four months following the end of that contract. The balance provider may also provide their fixed guarantee by making a deposit payment into the system operator’s account.
(2) If the balance provider has not complied with the requirements stipulated in the balance contract, the system operator may require them to provide a variable guarantee. The amount of the variable guarantee is the amount payable for any imbalance gas that was purchased by the balance provider during 1.5 times the balance-related period that constitutes the basis for money payments (hereinafter, ‘calculation period’) and that immediately preceded the provision of the variable guarantee, or the decision concerning modification of the variable guarantee, less the amount payable for any imbalance gas purchased from the balance provider during the same period.
(3) If the amount of the variable guarantee cannot be determined in the manner described in subsection 2 of this section, that amount is set by the system operator having regard to the amount payable for any imbalance gas presumably to be purchased by the balance provider during the reporting period less the amount payable for any imbalance gas presumably to be purchased from that provider.
(4) The system operator determines the amount of the variable guarantee to be provided by the balance provider and, where this is necessary, modifies it, having regard to subsections 2, 3 and 5 of this section.
(5) Where the balance provider demands this, the system operator reduces the amount of the variable guarantee, provided the amount that would be determined having regard to subsection s 2 or 3 of this section would fall substantially below the amount of the variable guarantee last determined with respect to that balance provider. The system operator increases the amount of the variable guarantee if the amount that would be determined under subsection s 2 or 3 of this section would substantially exceed the amount of the variable guarantee last determined with respect to that balance provider.
(6) The balance provider maintains their variable guarantee as valid for the amount that the system operator has set on the basis of subsection 4 of this section.
Division 2 Data Related to Balance Settlement
§ 4. Keeping accounts of energy units for balance settlement purposes
(1) For the purposes of balance settlement, the energy unit is the kilowatt-hour. When converting amounts of gas to energy units, the principles set out in §§ 20 and 21 of this Regulation are to be observed.
(2) To convert a quantity of gas to energy units, the higher calorific value of gas as published on the website of the network operator regarding the relevant balance period is to be used. If gas is introduced into the network through more than one point of input, its calorific value is calculated as the weighted average of the higher calorific values of the gas that was introduced through all points of input of the network.
Chapter 3 Changing the Open Supplier; Data Exchange between Market Participants
Division 1 Changing the Market Participant Linked to the Point of Consumption
§ 5. List of open suppliers
The system operator publishes in its website the list of open suppliers, which contains the following particulars:
1) the name of the open supplier;
2) their location address and their place of business;
3) their telephone number and email address;
4) their Commercial Registry code;
5) the open supplier’s EIC code.
§ 6. Changing the open supplier
(1) For any balance period, open supply for any point of consumption may be provided by a single open supplier.
(2) The market participant may change the open supplier of the point of consumption provided there is a valid network contract in respect of that point of consumption and provided the particulars listed in subsection 4 of this section are correct.
(3) Where the open supplier terminates an open supply contract, that supplier, before proceeding to terminate that contract, transmits to the data exchange platform a corresponding notice at least within the time limit mentioned in subsection 8 of § 101 of the Natural Gas Act.
(4) If the market participant concludes a contract with a new open supplier, the new supplier transmits to the relevant network operator, through the data exchange platform, within seven days preceding the requested change of supplier, the following particulars:
1) the identifying number for the market participant;
2) the Commercial Registry code and the EIC code of the new open supplier;
3) the EIC code of the metering point of the point of consumption, or the relevant EIC codes if the point of consumption has several metering points;
4) the time at which the change of the open supplier is to occur.
(5) The identifying number referred to in clause 1 of subsection 4 of this section is the personal identification number in the case of natural persons, the Commercial Registry code in the case of legal persons and a unique document number in the case of a person who does not possess a personal identification code or a Commercial Registry code.
(6) The change of the open supplier takes place at the progression to the next calendar month during the first balance period that ensues.
(7) At metering points whose metering data is subject to transmission by a remote reading device, the network operator fixes the quantity of gas that forms the basis for calculations on the basis of the data transmitted by that device.
§ 7. Change of the customer
(1) When there is a change of the customer, the new customer concludes a network contract and an open supply contract in respect of the metering point of the relevant point of consumption. A single open supply contract and a single network contract may be concluded with respect to any metering point.
(2) The open supplier provides to the network operator the information mentioned in clauses 1–3 of subsection 4 of § 6 of this Regulation and notifies to them the date on which the open supply contract becomes effective.
(3) Under an open supply contract, gas may be consumed from the day the network contract becomes effective.
(4) In the case of a new network contract, the network operator has the option of entering that contract to the data exchange platform one day before the date on which the network service under the contract commences.
(5) In the case of a new network contract, the open supplier has the option of entering that contract to the data exchange platform up to two days after the date on which the network service under the contract commences.
§ 8. Concluding the open supply contract in the case of change of the customer or the producer
(1) In the case of a change of the customer or of the producer, the new customer or producer at the point of consumption or of production concludes a new open supply contract at the latest by the time the previous contract ends.
(2) In the case of termination of the network contract, the open supply contract ends at the end of the balance period of the day on which the network contract ends.
§ 9. Changing the balance provider
(1) The open supplier gives the network operator at least 14 calendar days’ notice of changing their balance provider.
(2) The open supplier may change their balance provider during the first balance period following progression to the next calendar month.
§ 10. Change of the network operator
Where, as a result of modifications to the network operator’s service area, the location of a market participant’s connection point is transferred to the service area of another network operator, the network operator who provides the network service gives at least 30 calendar days’ notice of this:
1) to the open supplier who provides the service of open supply at the connection point in respect of which the network operator changes;
2) to the market participant whose network operator changes.
Division 2 Balance Responsibility in the Open Supply Chain
§ 11. Ensuring open supply without an open supply contract
(1) If a market participant does not hold an open supply contract with an open supplier, their open supplier, until conclusion of a new contract, is deemed to be the network operator to whose network their point of consumption is connected.
(2) An open supplier who does not hold an open supply contract cannot operate in the gas market.
(3) The network operator may appoint as the provider of the service of open supply referred to in subsection 1 of this section a seller who provides open supply to a market participant connected to that operator’s network.
(4) Under this section, the network operator provides open supply to the market participant:
1) for the quantity of gas consumed from the network, at the price of balance gas, to which they add the amount of justified expenses;
2) for the quantity of gas introduced into the network, free of charge.
(5) The data exchange related to the balance responsibility of the open supply chain is arranged via the data exchange platform.
Division 3 Data Exchange between Market Participants
§ 12. Data exchange related to open supplier
(1) The data exchange between market participants takes place through the data exchange platform.
(2) The data exchange connected to the changing of the open supplier takes place in accordance with the procedure set out in the technical guidelines for using and joining the data exchange platform (hereinafter, ‘technical guidelines of the data exchange platform’). The technical guidelines for using and joining the data exchange platform are drawn up by the system operator and are published on the system operator’s website.
§ 13. EIC codes
(1) The system operator allocates each network operator a code range for assigning EIC codes to metering points.
(2) The EIC code is based on a combination of symbols within the range allocated to the network operator by the system operator. Following the form established by the system operator, the network operator assigns their metering points a code such that each metering point has a unique EIC code.
(3) In the case of natural persons, the EIC code is assigned on the basis of their personal identification code, in the case of legal persons, on the basis of their Commercial Registry code, in the case of persons who do not possess a personal identification or Commercial Registry code, on the basis of another unique document number.
(4) The register of EIC codes is located on the data exchange platform.
(5) The EIC code is issued to each market participant through the data exchange platform.
§ 14. Technical particulars of metering points on the data exchange platform
(1) The list of technical particulars collected with respect to metering points is set out in the technical guidelines of the data exchange platform.
(2) The technical particulars of the metering point must contain the following information:
1) the EIC code of the metering point;
2) the manner of taking meter readings and the type of the metering point – either a metering point equipped with a remote reading device, a point equipped with a local reading device or a virtual metering point;
3) the validity of the network contract concluded with respect to the metering point and the names of the parties to that contract;
4) the type of the customer and a note concerning whether that customer is a protected customer;
5) the location address of the metering point;
6) whether the metering point is a boundary metering point of the network operator’s service area;
7) whether the network connection is open or closed.
(3) If no metering system has been installed under a network contract for the customer or producer, the network operator logs the corresponding metering point on the data exchange platform as a virtual metering point.
(4) The network operator is responsible for the correctness, at any time, of the technical particulars that they have entered to the data exchange platform in respect of a metering point.
§ 15. Determining the quantities of gas for the balance period
(1) The network operator relays to the data exchange platform two-way metering data stated on an hourly basis or by the balance period, in cubic metres and, as energy units, in kilowatt-hours.
(2) The network operator determines the data concerning the quantity of gas for the balance period by each metering point of its network as follows:
1) in the case of using a remote reading device, in accordance with metering data;
2) in the case of using a local reading device, according to the principle that the sum of the quantities of gas registered at the locally read metering points for the balance period equals the quantity of gas introduced into the network during that balance period less the sum of the quantities of gas registered at metering points equipped with remote reading devices during the same balance period;
3) the quantity for a metering point equipped with a local reading device in a balance period is calculated by multiplying the total quantity of gas registered at that metering point during the calculation period by the ratio of the total quantity of gas registered during the relevant balance period at the metering points equipped with a local reading device to the total quantity of gas registered at those metering points during the calculation period.
§ 16. Relaying data to the data exchange platform
(1) The network operator relays, in accordance with the technical guidelines of the data exchange platform, the following information to the data exchange platform in respect of each of their metering points:
1) the technical particulars of the metering point, mentioned in § 14 of this Regulation;
2) in the case of a network contract, the Commercial Registry code or, in the case of a natural person, the personal identification code or, in the case of a person who does not possess a personal identification code or a Commercial Registry code, another unique document number, of the market participant that concluded the contract for use of the network;
3) any modifications to the data previously relayed;
4) metering data, in cubic metres and in kilowatt-hours, stated by balance period or on an hourly basis.
(2) The open supplier transmits to the data exchange platform data concerning the period of validity of the contract for the sale of gas held by the market participant to whom they provide the service of open supply.
(3) For each metering point at which metering is performed by a remote reading device, the network operator transmits to the data exchange platform, by 13:00 hours on each business day, metering data:
1) concerning the quantities of gas consumed from the network during the preceding balance periods of the current month;
2) concerning the quantities of gas introduced into the network during the preceding balance periods of the current month.
(4) The network operator transmits to the data exchange platform the following final metering data concerning the quantities of gas, by metering point and by the seventh day of each month:
1) the quantity of gas consumed from the network during the balance periods of the preceding month;
2) the quantity of gas introduced into the network during the balance periods of the preceding month.
(5) The quantities of gas referred to in subsections 3–4 of this section are logged on the data exchange platform in cubic metres as well as in kilowatt-hours.
(6) In order to perform estimates of consumption data of the metering points in their balance portfolio, the open supplier receives from the data exchange platform metering data for the last 12 months.
§ 17. Obtaining data from the data exchange platform
(1) The network operator has the right to obtain the following data via the data exchange platform:
1) the EIC code of the metering point’s open supplier;
2) the period of validity of the open supply contract.
(2) The open supplier has the right to obtain, via the data exchange platform, the following data concerning the market participant that has concluded a contract for the sale of gas with that supplier, or concerning a market participant that has authorized the supplier accordingly:
1) in respect of the metering point of that market participant, the technical particulars mentioned in subsection 2 of § 14 of this Regulation;
2) information concerning the period of validity of the open supply contract related to the metering point of that market participant;
3) the metering data for the last 12 months.
(3) The seller or the network operator has the right to obtain, via the data exchange platform, data concerning the period of validity of the network contract concluded by the customer, and the name of the network operator with whom that contract has been concluded.
(4) The customer has the right to obtain the following information via the data exchange platform:
1) the period of validity of the network contract concluded in respect of that customer’s metering point and the name of the network operator with whom that contract has been concluded;
2) the period of validity of the contract for the sale of gas concluded in respect of that customer’s metering point and the name of the party to that contract;
3) the quantity of gas measured at the metering points linked to that customer;
4) the open suppliers whom that customer has authorized to access their consumption data and who have requested that customer’s data.
(5) Before concluding an open supply contract, the open supplier must verify via the data exchange platform whether the other party to the contract to be concluded has the right to change the supplier in respect of the particular metering point.
(6) Any market participant has the right to obtain from the data exchange platform, free of charge, in a digital form, through the data exchange layer of the state information system and into another information system, data in XML format concerning metering points linked to them.
§ 18. Rectification period and the keeping of accounts of quantities of consumption
(1) In the case that a discrepancy is identified between data relayed concerning quantities of gas introduced into or consumed from the network and the actual consumption or production, or in the case of a fault of the metering system, the network operator rectifies the metering data it has relayed and transmits the corresponding information to the data exchange platform, through which rectified metering data are transmitted to the open supplier of the market participant.
(2) The network operator has the right to rectify metering data retrospectively up to 12 months from the initial performance of the metering.
(3) If the period to be rectified exceeds the rectification period stipulated in the balance contract, the network operator presents a rectification invoice to the customer for the network service and for any gas it has sold to that customer on an open supply basis. The seller of gas takes the rectified quantities of consumption into account and presents the corresponding rectifying invoice to the customer.
(4) The invoice for gas stating rectified quantities of consumption is presented in accordance with the price applicable under the network contract and under the gas contract during the period to be rectified or in accordance with the price of the gas sold by the network operator on an open supply basis.
(5) If the quantity of consumption of gas that is fixed in accordance with the rules provided in subsection 3 of this section exceeds the quantity that was actually consumed, the network operator pays the seller of gas for the difference. If the quantity of consumption of gas that is fixed in accordance with the rules provided in subsection 3 of this section falls below the quantity that was actually consumed, the seller of gas pays the network operator for the difference.
(6) The rules provided in subsection 5 are applied in the case that, with respect to the period to be rectified, the system operator has settled the balance but the seller of gas has made a set-off with the market participant.
Chapter 4 Quality Requirements for Gas
§ 19. Quality of gas introduced into the gas system
(1) The quality of the gas introduced into the gas system must conform to the requirements provided in the annex to this Regulation.
(2) The quality of the biomethane introduced into the gas system must conform to the requirements stated in the Annex to this regulation and in the standard EVS-EN 16723-1, or to equivalent requirements.
(3) The oxygen content of biomethane at the point where biomethane is introduced into the transmission network may exceed the value stated in the Annex and may be less than or equal to.5 mole percent on the condition that, at all output points of the transmission network, the oxygen content of the gas that has become mixed in the piping is of an allowed level at less than or equal to 0.02 mole percent. The final limit value of the oxygen content of biomethane is fixed in the connection contract.
(4) At the point of introduction into the distribution network, the oxygen content of biomethane must be lower than or equal to 0.5 mole percent.
(5) The temperature of the gas introduced into the gas system must be within the range of 0–40 degrees Celsius.
(6) The quality requirements for gas are determined at conventional conditions under which the absolute pressure of gas is 101.325 kilopascals and the temperature of gas is 20 degrees Celsius.
Chapter 5 Conversion of Volume Units of Gas to Energy Units
§ 20. Base data for conversion to energy units
(1) Base data for conversion to energy units are:
1) the quantity of the gas, in cubic metres, during the balance period;
2) the higher calorific value of the gas, in kilowatt-hours per cubic metre, published for the balance period.
(2) At the latest by the third day of the month following the calculation month, the network operator publishes on their website the final calorific values for each balance period of the calculation month. The network operator preserves the data on the higher calorific value of gas at least for five years from the making of the measurement.
§ 21. Converting a quantity of gas to energy units
(1) Converting a quantity of gas to energy units means multiplying that quantity by the higher calorific value of the gas, which is calculated on the basis of the following formula:
E = Hs x V,
where:
E – the quantity of gas as energy units in kilowatt-hours;
Hs – the higher calorific value of the gas during the balance period, in kilowatt-hours per cubic metre;
V – the quantity of gas measured during the balance period, in cubic metres.
(2) The value of kilowatt-hours is stated with a precision of two decimal places.
Chapter 6 Certificate of Origin
§ 22. Particulars stated in the certificate of origin
The following particulars are to be stated in the certificate of origin:
1) time of issuing the certificate and the identification number of the certificate;
2) name, address of location and contacts of the producer;
3) location, type and production capacity of the producing installation;
4) date on which the producing installation issued gas for the first time;
5) the beginning and end date of producing the energy unit of gas;
6) a list of raw materials used to produce the energy unit of gas;
7) information concerning conformity of the energy unit of gas to the sustainability criteria established under subsection 1 of § 120 of the Atmospheric Air Protection Act for biofuels and liquid biofuels.
Chapter 7 Implementing Provision
§ 23. Entry into force of this Regulation
This Regulation is applied starting 1 August 2017.
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