The Energy Community Secretariat together with the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG) held a joint workshop on the implementation of the Network Code for Interoperability and Data Exchange Rules in Vienna on 18 June. ENTSOG’s Early Warning System was also discussed. The workshop brought together more than 50 participants, including TSOs from EU Member States and Energy Community Contracting Parties and Observers, including Turkey, and two other neighbouring countries – Azerbaijan and Morocco.
The Network Code on Interoperability and Data Exchange Rules is one of the key policy instruments in implementing the Third Energy Package and supporting market integration in the gas sector. The network code aims at removing barriers for gas flows when crossing different systems by strengthening cooperation amongst TSOs, thus ensuring that users remain unaffected and a high level of gas quality is maintained. The network code has recently been adopted by the European Union. It will be adopted in the Energy Community Contracting Parties following a decision of the Permanent High Level Group.
The purpose of the workshop was to present and discuss the current status of the implementation of the interoperability network code in the EU. A case study on the interconnection agreement between the Hungarian TSO FGSZ and the Ukrainian TSO Ukrtransgaz was presented. ENTSOG also introduced its Early Warning Mechanism, a voluntary TSO communication tool open to all TSOs from EU and non-EU countries. The purpose of the tool is to help anticipate potential gas supply crisis and facilitate a response to such crisis at an early stage.