Capacity of intra-European connections

Interruptible capacity for intra-European connections will be available once the firm capacity offered to the market has been booked.

Booking interruptible capacity can be carried out in two ways:

• The first, through the daily interruptible auction, which takes place every day at 17:30 in PRISMA, following the auction of day firm capacity.
• The second, through the over-nomination mechanism, available both if all firm capacity is booked in any of the intraday auctions and if not, all capacity is contracted in the daily interruptible auction above mentioned.

The benchmark regulation is set out in Regulation (EU) 2017/459 and in Circular 3/2017, which contains the conditions for the offer and contracting of interruptible capacity.

Enagás Transporte offers an interruptible capacity for the intra-European connection with Portugal (VIP IBERICO) in coordination with the Portuguese TSO REN. The parameters governing the algorithm in kWh/day at 0ºC are:

• Portugal to Spain direction, the Correction Parameter is 7.000.000 while the Maximum Ceiling is 20.052.000
• Spain to Portugal direction, the Correction Parameter is 20.000.000 while the Maximum Ceiling is 36.093.600

What is it?

The secondary capacity market (SM) is the market in which contracted capacity and its use is exchanged between market participants.

There are two mechanisms through which agents can complete a secondary market transaction:

• Sale or assignment: the agent that assigns its capacity transfers all rights and obligations to the counterparty.
• Transfer of use: only the use of the contract is transferred, and the original contract holder retains all rights and obligations. 
  

Where are these transactions concluded?

All transmission capacity transactions on the secondary market in European connections must be concluded in PRISMA, where both assignment and transfer of use operations are carried out.

Agents can choose one of the three existing procedures to conclude a transaction on the secondary market: Over the Counter (OTC), First Come First Served (FCFS) and Call for Orders (CFO).

You can find more detailed information here.

Reference regulation

Article 22 of Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 states that each transmission, storage and LNG system operator shall take reasonable steps to allow capacity rights to be freely tradable and to facilitate such trade in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner. Accordingly, every such operator shall develop harmonised transport, LNG facility and storage contracts and procedures on the primary market to facilitate secondary trade of capacity and shall recognise the transfer of primary capacity rights where notified by system users.

Similarly, Article 12 of Circular 3/2017 sets out the provisions relating to secondary market capacity in international pipeline connections with Europe.

With the amendment to the Network Code on Capacity Allocation, how to offer and allocate new or additional capacity in intra-European connections, either through new infrastructure or by increasing capacity in existing facilities, was included.

The standardised process for the offer of incremental capacity is biennial, i.e. every two years transmission companies have to analyse the use of their international connections and produce a report concluding whether or not it is necessary to invest in new or existing infrastructure.