ENTSOG South-North Corridor GRIP 2017 - Main Report

8.1.2 LUXEMBOURG

On 1 October 2015, the Luxembourg gas TSO, Creos Luxembourg and the Belgian gas TSO, Fluxys Belgium launched the very first integrated gas market involving two EU Member States. This merger, which received broad media coverage is the result of extensive cooperation dating back to 2013 between Creos Luxembourg, Fluxys Belgium and their respective regulators, the Institut Luxembourgeois de Régulation (ILR) and Belgium’s Commission de Régulation de l’Electricité et du Gaz (CREG). It is very much in line with the main objectives of the Gas Target Model updated on 16 January 2015, that is, to improve liquidity and accessibility as key features for an efficient gas market design, and the EU’s goal to create an internal, borderless gas market where gas supplies can circulate freely between all Member States. Combining the two markets enhances market competitiveness for both countries, and also strengthens Luxembourg’s security of supply. In common with other European gas markets, the Belgian and Luxembourg markets make use of national entry/exit systems, with access fees applying between the two countries. In other words, to be able to transmit gas from Belgium to Luxembourg, in the past suppliers had to pay an exit fee for gas to leave Belgium and an entry fee to enter Luxembourg. With the creation of the integrated BeLux market, these entry- exit access fees between Belgium and Luxembourg were removed and the Zeebrugge Trading Point (ZTP) became the gas trading point for the integrated mar- ket. The merger has created a single balancing market in the two countries, offering further opportunities for suppliers and shippers to be active in both countries. In order to manage the rules and mechanisms for commercial balancing in the new integrated market area, Creos Luxembourg and Fluxys Belgium have established a new jointly owned (50/50) company called Balansys.

Fluxys Belgium

ZTP

EYNATTEN

GD Lux BRAS/PÉTANGE

Common entity

Remich

%

60

50

40

30

Creos

20

10

0

0

10

20

30

40

Figure 8.4: A single integrated gas market for Belgium and Luxembourg (Source: Fluxys Belgium & Creos Luxembourg)

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