Capacity products at border points
How can I book capacities at the border points?
Capacity allocation takes place in a form of a standard auction procedure on the capacity booking platforms.
NET4GAS uses the PRISMA platform for all Czech border points except for the border point to Poland. The auctions for the Czech-Polish border point Český Těšín/Cieszyn take place on the GSA platform.
On the PRISMA and GSA platforms, you can find all necessary information about the auctions for the respective border points. The data includes information about the capacities offered and sold during past auctions, pricing, and upcoming auctions.
The general rules and conditions for capacity booking are set by the Gas Market Rules (Articles 9 – 19) and in the Capacity Allocation Mechanism Network Code (CAM NC).
What types of capacity products does NET4GAS offer?
NET4GAS offers capacity products for border points with the following durations: within-day, daily (day-ahead regime), monthly (only for one upcoming month), quarterly, and yearly. Capacities are available as bundled or unbundled products on a firm or interruptible basis.
When can I book capacities at the border points?
Auctions for firm capacity at the border points take place at fixed dates and times given by the CAM NC, Articles 11 – 15:
- Yearly products – first Monday in July of every year
- Quarterly products – for quarters of the upcoming gas year
- Capacities for Q1 – Q4 of the gas year – first Monday in August
- Capacities for Q2 – Q4 of the gas year – first Monday in November
- Capacities for Q3 – Q4 of the gas year – first Monday in February
- Capacities for Q4 of the gas year – first Monday in May
- Day-ahead products – once a day for the upcoming day at 4:30 p.m.
- Within-day products – every hour during the given gas day D. The first bidding round starts at 7:00 p.m. and closes at 2:30 a.m. of the preceding gas day.
New bidding windows then start at every whole hour and last for 30 minutes with the last bidding round closing at 1:30 on the relevant gas day. Within-day products have a duration from hour H+4 after the respective auction until the end of the respective gas day.
Information about the auction terms for both firm and interruptible capacities is published on the websites of the PRISMA and GSA platforms. For the respective auction calendars, please follow these links:
What is the difference between bundled and unbundled products?
Transmission capacity can be booked as bundled or unbundled. Bundled transmission capacity means a capacity product which consists of corresponding entry and exit capacities on both sides of an interconnection point, i.e. a network user concludes contracts with both adjacent TSOs at the same time.
Unbundled capacity is offered for only one side of the border point. In order to use such unbundled capacity, a network user might also need a contract with a TSO on the other side of the border.
What are the rules for an interruptible capacity auction?
Interruptible capacity for annual, quarterly and monthly products may only be offered in accordance with Article 32, paragraph 1 of the CAM NC after the corresponding annual, quarterly, and monthly firm products have been sold at an auction premium, were sold out, or were not offered.
NET4GAS offers interruptible day-ahead capacities after the firm capacity day-ahead auction has ended.
Interruptible within-day capacities may be offered in line with Article 32, paragraph 6 of the CAM NC in the form of an over-nomination.
For more information, see Article 32 of the CAM NC.
What are the rules for transmission interruption?
The TSO will interrupt a transmission if the sum of nominations at that particular point exceeds the corresponding technical capacity at that point. Gas transmission under Gas Transmission Contracts for interruptible capacity is limited in the first place, by the first limiting or interrupting gas transport under the last concluded contract. If the interruption of interruptible capacity contracts is insufficient, firm capacity contracts may also be interrupted upon the conditions stated in the Energy Act. The circumstances allowing TSO gas transmission interruption/limitation represent a measure of last resort and are stated in Article 58/1/i) of the Energy Act.
Detailed interruption rules and priorities are stipulated in Section 6.2 of the Network Code.
What is the price of NET4GAS capacity products?
Reserve capacity prices are regulated and set on a yearly basis by the Energy Regulatory Office in the Price Decision. Article 1.1.1. of the Price Decision sets the reserve capacity prices for yearly border points’ capacity bookings. In case of short-term capacity bookings, the multipliers set in Articles 1.1.2., 1.1.6. and 1.1.7. of the Price Decision are applied to the yearly tariffs. The respective prices for the Czech entry and exit points can be simulated in the Price Calculator. These prices set the starting price in the auctions.
What is the emergency process if bookings on PRISMA are not possible?
In case auction-booking platform availability is affected or the auction has not been successfully uploaded, please contact our Commercial Management (CM) department immediately by phone or email.
If the auction booking platform failure occurs outside of working hours, during weekends or holidays, or you were not successful in contacting our CM department as directed above, please contact our Dispatching department directly by phone (tel.: +420 220 225 970; mobile: +420 739 536 629).
What is the Capacity Conversion Service?
If a network user holding an existing unbundled transmission capacity concluded before November 1, 2015 takes part in a bundled auction and successfully books bundled capacity in the auction, it can convert its already contracted unbundled transmission capacity to match the acquired bundled capacity product. NET4GAS is offering this service for annual, quarterly, and monthly transmission capacities.
A network user shall inform NET4GAS about its intention to convert an unbundled capacity contract no later than 3 business days before the auction. The detailed conversion process is described in Article 19 of the Network Code.
What are the terms and conditions of the secondary marketing of capacities?
A network user (Transferor) is authorized to partially or entirely transfer the contracted capacity to another network user (Transferee). In this case, the Transferee shall submit a Request for Transmission Capacity Transfer signed by authorized persons of both the Transferee and the Transferor. Network users may transfer any transmission capacity with a duration of 1 month or longer. The Transferee will become the new contractual party with all consequent rights and obligations.
All conditions that need to be fulfilled and further information are to be found in Article 13 of the Network Code.