Consultations/Rules amendments

Following the press release of September 19th, 2016, we inform you that the new Rules of the Gas Balancing Platform (PB-Gas Rules), as amended, pursuant to Article 3.7 of the aforementioned Rules, will enter into force from the day gas October 1st, 2016 in order to launch the gas balancing system according to the transitional arrangement referred to in Article 2, paragraph 2.1 of Decision 312/2016/R/GAS.
Simultaneously, from the gas day 1st October 2016, the following Technical Rules will enter into force.

• Technical Rule no. 11 rev2 PB-GAS Units of measurement
• Technical Rule no. 09 rev2 PB-GAS Management of emergency conditions
• Technical Rule no. 08 rev4 PB-GAS Validation and Technical Adequacy Verification of Bids/Offers
• Technical Rule no. 07 rev6 PB-GAS Submission of Bids/Offers
• Technical Rule no. 06 rev2 PB-GAS Time Periods of Activities for the Sessions of the PB-GAS
• Technical Rule no. 05 rev4 PB-GAS VAT Taxation on the PB-GAS
• Technical Rule no. 04 rev2 PB-GAS Notifications about the procedure of admission to/exclusion from the PB-GAS
• Technical Rule no. 03 rev4 PB-GAS Invoicing of Fees and Settlement of Payments

Therefore, the previously version of the PB-GAS Rules and the related Technical Rules will be applied for the operation of the PB-GAS Gas referred to the gas day September 30th, 2016.

Notice is hereby given that with Resolution 584/2016/R/gas, the Authority for Electricity, Gas and Water System (AEEGSI) approved urgent changes to the Gas Balancing Platform Rules (PB-Gas Rules) , prepared by Gestore dei Mercati energetici S.p.A. under Article 3.7 of the aforementioned Rules, in order to launch the balancing system according to the transitional arrangement referred to in Article 2, paragraph 2.1 of the Resolution 312/2016/R/GAS.

Please note that the PB-Gas Rules entered into force by the gas-day 1 October 2016 and are available at the following link.

With this consultation document (Consultation Document 8/2014), GME intends to gather comments and suggestions from interested parties about some changes to the provisions of the Rules and Regulations governing its markets and platforms. The proposed changes are focused on: the disciplinary measures that GME adopts in case of breaches of the Rules and Regulations by participants; the requirements for participation in/suspension/exclusion from the market/s; and the provisions regarding the resolution of complaints about market operations.
Considering that the above provisions have a cross-cutting nature within the different markets/platforms that GME organises and manages, apart from obvious differences related to the specificity of each market, GME plans to globally revise the Rules/Regulations, with a view to achieving a structured and homogeneous regulatory setting to the benefit, among others, of participants active on the different markets/platforms.
Interested parties are invited to send their comments in writing to GME’s Institutional Relations & Communication - “Relazioni Istituzionali e Comunicazione”- by 11 December at the latest (end date of the consultation) in one of the following ways:

·  by e-mail to: info@mercatoelettrico.org
·  by fax to: +39-06-8012 4524
·  by mail to: Gestore dei mercati energetici S.p.A.
                     Largo Giuseppe Tartini, 3/4
                     00198 – Roma

If you want us to keep all or part of your comments confidential, please specify which parts of your document are to be kept confidential.

Download Consultation Document 8/2014

GME has made changes and additions to the Regulations of the Gas Balancing Platform (PB-GAS Regulations) in compliance with the decision adopted by “Autorità per l’energia elettrica, il gas e il sistema idrico” (AEEGSI, the electricity, gas & water system regulator) on 9 October  2014 (AEEGSI’s Decision 485/2014/R/Gas). The amended PB-GAS Regulations introduce new procedures for managing the flexibility resources of linepack and storage capacity to be replenished on the gas-days following the day of flow (Stogit replenishment) within the G-1 Segment of the PB-GAS.
It is worth pointing out that, as regards the operation and sessions of the PB-GAS G-1 Segment, the above-mentioned AEEGSI’s decision required GME to modify the zonal market resolution algorithm of the PB-GAS G-1 Segment so that:

• links (transits) between market zones represent the flexible resources (capacities associated with each gas resource) that Snam Rete Gas has admitted to trading on the PB-GAS G-1 Segment. Consequently, the cost functions associated with the flexible resources, where specified by Snam Rete Gas, will no longer be applied to bids/offers submitted by participants but to the aforesaid links. This modification guarantees that the cost associated with the utilisation of flexible resources is always covered by the spread between the remuneration price of the Snam Rete Gas zone (where the demand bid/supply offer of Snam Rete Gas itself is placed) and the remuneration price of the zone to which accepted bids/offers refer, even when the link is not fully utilised. It follows that all the gas bids/offers accepted after the sessions of the G-1 Segment will always be valued at a remuneration price corresponding to the price of the zone to which the bids/offers refer;
• 2 distinct zones are identified based on the day of delivery of gas bids/offers utilising the linepack and Stogit replenishment resources, i.e.
• G+1 (to which bids/offers entered by participants and to be delivered on day G+1 refer), which will be connected with the Snam Rete Gas zone via two distinct links representing the linepack resource and the Stogit replenishment resource, respectively; each link will be associated with the related cost functions, as well as with the transit capacities corresponding to the related utilisation limits. It follows that bids/offers entered in respect of this zone may use both the linepack flexibility resource and the Stogit replenishment flexibility resource;
• G+N (to which bids/offers in respect of the days following G+1 refer), which will be connected with the G+1 zone via a link representing the Stogit replenishment resource, with which a transit capacity corresponding to the related utilisation limit will be associated;
• upon submission of bids/offers, the participant only specifies the volume, price and day of delivery associated with his/her/its bid/offer, without giving any other indication about whether the same bid/offer is to be attributed to the linepack or Stogit replenishment resource;
• bids/offers with delivery on G+1 are valued at the same price, regardless of the fact that the gas covered by the same bids/offers utilises the linepack resource or the capacity of the Stogit replenishment resource.

GME has amended the PB-GAS Regulations (and the related Technical Rules) under art. 3, para. 3.7 thereof in order to implement Decisions 446/2013/R/Gas, 520/2013/R/GAS, 552/2013/R/GAS and 645/2013/E/GAS, adopted by Autorità per l’energia elettrica e il gas (AEEG). The changes and additions that GME has made to the Regulations and to the related Technical Rules will enter into force on 31 January 2014. Under the new provisions, balancing users that have acquired the status of PB-GAS participants may submit demand bids and supply offers of additional flexible resources with respect to the gas import resource.
In the new G-1 Segment, one or more zones will be defined where to place the offer points corresponding to one or more types of flexible resources and, for each zone, Snam Rete Gas may - where necessary - define the corresponding limits of utilisation of such resources.
The G-1 Segment will have the following zonal configuration:

a)  Snam Rete Gas Zone, having a single offer point, in respect of which SRG will submit demand bids/supply offers. For this zone, SRG will not define any utilisation limit;
b)  Import Zone, having offer points associated with interconnection points with foreign countries. For the Import Zone, SRG will not define any utilisation limit;
c)  Edison Stoccaggio Zone, having offer points associated with participants having gas availability in the storage sites of Edison Stoccaggio S.p.A. For the Edison Stoccaggio Zone, SRG will not define any utilisation limit;
d)  LNG Zone, having offer points associated with participants having gas availability in regasification terminals. For the LNG Zone, SRG will not define any utilisation limit;
e)  Stogit Unutilised Capacity and Linepack Zone, having offer points associated with participants having gas availability in the storage sites of Stogit S.p.A., to which/whom SRG makes available shares of linepack, as well as the withdrawal and/or injection capacity at Stogit that SRG itself plans not to utilise on day G. For the Stogit Unutilised Capacity and Linepack Zone, SRG will define utilisation limits;
f)  Zone of Delivery at the PSV on Days G and Following Days; if additional withdrawal capacity is available at Stogit and can be replenished within a given period of time, this zone will have offer points associated with participants authorised for the PSV and in respect of which the same participants will submit supply offers for gas to be delivered at the PSV on days G and following days. For the Zone of Delivery at the PSV on Days G and Following Days, SRG will define utilisation limits.
The following are the texts of the PB-GAS Regulations and of the related Technical Rules, which have been amended and supplemented in compliance with the provisions of AEEG and which will enter into force on 31 January 2014.
 
- Regulations of the Gas Balancing Platform (PB-GAS);
- Technical Rule no. 7 Rev. 4 PB-GAS;
- Technical Rule no. 8 Rev. 2 PB-GAS;
- Technical Rule no. 10 PB-GAS.
 
To participate in the G-1 Segment of the PB-GAS, balancing users with flexible resources admitted thereto must be registered with the PB-GAS. Therefore, all balancing users wishing to participate in the G-1 Segment of the PB-GAS and not yet registered therewith must submit the following documents to GME:
 
1.  the PB-GAS participation application (in the format of Annex A to the Regulations), accompanied by a personal identity document of the signer of the application;
2.  the PB-GAS participation agreement (in the format of Annex B to the Regulations), duly signed and initialled on each page;
3.  if the applicant is an organisation, a declaration issued under Decree of the President of the Republic no. 445 of 28 Dec. 2000 (form posted on GME’s website, in the PB-GAS/how to participate section) stating that the signer of the application has the powers to represent the organisation, or other documents based on which GME will carry out a substantial equivalence evaluation.
Access to the electronic platform of the G-1 Segment of the PB-GAS is restricted to the users designated by each participant in point 6 of the market participation application (Annex A); these users will have to obtain a digital certificate compatible with GME’s information systems.
The digital certificate must be activated on the registration portal https://gas.ipex.it/GasWebSite/Register.aspx before access to the PB-GAS.

The first market day will pertain to the gas-day of Saturday 1 February 2014. The corresponding sitting for entry of bids/offers into the G-1 Segment will be held on Friday 31 January 2014 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and the results will be published at 8:30 p.m.
 
Blank tests on the new features of the G-1 Segment of the PB-GAS, open to all interested parties, will take place from Wednesday 29 January to Friday 7 February 2014. Therefore, blank tests may go on even after the operational kick-off (1 February 2014) of the new features of the G-1 Segment of the PB-GAS. The test sessions will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The platform for the tests is available at https://provegas.ipex.it/pbsgaswebsite/.

All the users of the gas platforms now managed by GME (P-GAS, MGAS and PB-GAS) have been automatically registered for the tests. Therefore, they may take part in the tests without any additional registration.

New registrations for the tests may be requested by filling in the appropriate form available at https://provegas.ipex.it/gaswebsite/register.aspx.
Any changes to the test programme will be timely notified.

Write to provegas@mercatoelettrico.org or call +39-06-8165 5748, if you need support for and/or clarifications about the tests and/or if you wish to enquire about the validation of already submitted requests for registration.

Write to sistemigme@mercatoelettrico.org or call +39-06-8165 5764, if you need support for and/or clarifications about the IT aspects of the operation of the platform or if you wish to report possible problems and malfunctions.

Write to informatica@mercatoelettrico.org for IT enquiries, if you work for the technical departments of participants or for companies providing IT services (e.g. to request support for implementing web service clients).
 

Implementation guide
PB-GAS G-1 Participants' manual 

GME has made some amendments and additions to the PB-GAS Regulations, with a view to implementing the provisions of Decision 446/2013/R/Gas adopted by “Autorità per l’energia elettrica e il gas” (AEEG, the Italian electricity & gas regulator) on 10 October 2013.
The new PB-GAS configuration resulting from the above amendments and additions is as follows:

• G-1 Segment, where balancing users offer flexible gas resources to SRG for covering the expected system imbalance;
• G+1 Segment, where authorised users negotiate demand bids and supply offers of gas held in storage. On this Segment, SRG - as balance responsible entity - procures the storage resources that it needs to cover the overall system imbalance by submitting, in each session, a single demand bid (if the overall system imbalance is negative) or a single supply offer (if the overall system imbalance is positive).
  

• trades on this Segment will take place under the auction model, whose clearing price is the marginal price;
• as it currently happens on the balancing platform (now G+1 Segment), SRG will act as central counterparty to trades on the G-1 Segment;
• in the initial stage: 
• the results of each session will be determined by matching the bid/offer possibly entered by SRG only with the bids/offers entered by balancing users/participants and having a sign opposite to the one of the bid/offer entered by SRG itself;
• participants may trade locational products only in respect of the flexible resource of imported gas;
• the sessions of the G-1 Segment will be held within a time window starting at 17:00 and ending at 20:30 of the day ahead of the gas-day to which transactions and related schedules refer, i.e. only after the cycle of renomination of schedules by balancing users on SRG’s systems;
• similarly to what happens today on the G+1 Segment, after determining the results of each session of the G-1 Segment, GME will transfer such results to SRG, which will register the transactions on its own systems.
  

• change of the procedure for determining the remuneration price under Article 42, para. 42.2 b) ii. (previously covered by Article 33, para. 33.2 b) ii.);
• change of Article 21, para. 21.3 of the PB-GAS Regulations, i.e. repeal of the provision concerning the exclusion of the PB-GAS Participant in case of protracted loss of the status of authorised user;
• addition of Article 43 (previous numbered as Article 34) to the provision concerning GME’s possibility of re-running the session, if GME or SRG identify material errors in the data and information used for determining the results of the same session.
  

GME has prepared this consultation document about proposed amendments and additions to the Regulations, with a view to gathering comments and inputs from interested parties.
The proposed changes concern:
a) the revision of actions undertaken by GME after verifying, on a daily basis, whether participants meet the authorization requirements;
b) the adoption of a different criterion to determine the remuneration price resulting from the PB-GAS market sessions;
c) the cancellation and consequent redetermination of the results of a session of the PB-GAS, if GME or Snam Rete Gas (hereafter called “SNAM”) have - within the scope of their activities of definition, loading and processing of data instrumental for the execution of the PB-GAS - committed material errors impairing the correct determination of its results.
Interested parties should send in their comments in writing to the “Unità Legale e Regolazione” (Legal & Regulatory Office) of GME by 5 July 2013 at the latest (end date of the consultation) in one of the following ways:

• By e-mail to: info@mercatoelettrico.org
  
  
• By fax to: 06.8012-4524
  
  
• By mail to: Gestore dei mercati energetici S.p.A.
  

   Largo Giuseppe Tartini, 3/4
  

   00198 – Roma

Registration with the yearly data reporting platform is now open
 
AAs part of the pro-competitive measures introduced by Legislative Decree 249/2012, GME was vested with the task of developing: i) an oil logistics market platform (art. 21, para. 1 of Legislative Decree 249/2012) to facilitate the trading of logistic capacities in the short, medium and long term; and ii) a wholesale oil products market platform (art. 22, para. 1 of Legislative Decree 249/2012) to favour the trading of liquid oil products for the transport sector.
 
In view of setting up the mineral-oil logistics platform and, in particular, of preparing the datasets that are instrumental for its take-off, art. 21, para. 2 of the above-mentioned decree provides that parties holding mineral-oil storage capacity (even if unutilised) in Italy, in depots with a capacity of more than 3,000 m³, shall yearly report their available capacity data to GME, by using the data reporting template approved by the Ministry of Economic Development Director-General’s Decree no. 17371 of 30 May 2013 (hereafter “Decree 17371/2013”)
 
To comply with this provision, GME set up a Mineral-Oil Storage Capacity Data Reporting Platform (PDC-oil) to collect and process the identification data of obliged parties, as well as the data and information concerning the available logistic capacity (based on the data reporting template approved by Decree 17371/2013) that the same parties are required to report to GME on a yearly basis.
 
“Obliged parties” may register with the PDC-oil from 4 July 2013 on, in compliance with the provisions of the Regulation Governing the Mineral-Oil Storage Capacity Data Reporting Platform (PDC-oil) and  following the procedure described in the “PDC-Oil Participants’ Guide”, also entering into force on 4 July 2013. In its notice of 1 July 2013, the Ministry of Economic Development clarified that the parties subject to the obligation of reporting mineral-oil storage capacity data, as per art. 21, para. 2 of Legislative Decree 249/2012, to GME are the owners of the facility or, if the facility has been leased, only the lessees.

For reporting storage capacity data as of 31 December 2012, the PDC-oil electronic platform will be available from Monday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., in the period from 18 July 2013 to 8 August 2013.
 
For additional information, write to logistica@mercatoelettrico.org or call +39-06 8012 4825 / 4530
 
Visit the “Fuel Markets/PDC-oil” section of GME’s website.

We inform you that, today, Gestore dei Mercati Energetici SpA (GME) has published urgent amendments to the natural Gas Balancing Platform, in compliance with Decision 32/2012/R/gas adopted by “Autorità per l’Energia Elettrica e il Gas” (AEEG) on 7 February 2012 (urgent provisions on merit-order balancing of natural gas, under emergency conditions due to gas deficit on the network).