Conversion to daylight saving time gas day 28 October 2023
On gas day 28 October 2023 there will be a switch from summer time to winter time. This means that this gas day will have 25 hours. To avoid any problems please be aware of the following: BBL expects nominations according to the EDIGAS protocol. This means that a nomination for this gas day (October 28th) consists of 25 hours in which, translated to UTC, the nomination for that day begins at 04:00 UTC (6.00 LET) and ends at 05:00 UTC (also 6.00 LET). When using ENOM with appropriate settings, this feature is facilitated when nominating for this gas day. When not using ENOM, please make sure that EDIGAS messages will have this timeframe. Whenever possible, avoid sending in nominations in the period between 01:00 LET and 04:00 LET. Due to possible technical limitations, incoming nominations may be handled different from the normal process and therefore may introduce extra risks. We expect a nomination of 25 hours. Normally the daily amount will increase with the same factor, so 25/24 part will be delivered, hourly quantities will stay the same. But this last part depends on the delivery agreement between shippers. When the agreement shows that the daily amount must stay the same, the hourly quantities need to be decreased. Shipper has to take care of this issue himself.
Planned maintenance 2024
Every year, BBL Company performs planned maintenance. The 30 - day period within which the planned maintenance will take place in 2024 is the period from 1 September 2024 to 30 September 2024. Further details about the exact duration and timing of the maintenance will be published through our newsletter and on the BBL Company website at a later stage.
BBL Company Commodity Charge
On 4 August 2023 Ofgem has approved the GT&C and Charging Methodology which BBLC has consulted in Spring 2023. One of the consulted topics was to add a fixed component to the variable fee to cover electricity connection costs. From 1 October 2023 onwards BBL Company will be implementing this fixed fee in its variable fee formula. The fixed fee is set on 0.09 €/MWh and is applicable for Forward Flow nominations as well as for Reverse Flow nominations. Further details can be found on this website.
Reminder: BBL pipeline inspection program September 2023
As announced in May 2023, BBL Company’s annual planned maintenance period of the BBL facilities will take place during 6 gas days starting from Tuesday 5 September 2023 at 06:00 CEST and ending at Monday 11 September at 06.00 CEST. Following this annual planned maintenance period, an internal pipeline cleaning and inspection program will be conducted. This inspection program is an essential activity for maintaining pipeline integrity and future gas transportation services. This inspection program will start on Monday 11 September at 06.00 CEST and is planned to be completed by Monday 25 September at 06.00 CEST. During the inspection program, pipeline cleaning and inspection gauges are sent through the BBL pipeline whilst the pipeline is under normal physical reverse flow conditions (GB > NL). Availability Reverse Flow (GB to NL) capacity during the inspection program During the inspection program, the physical Reverse Flow capacity of the BBL pipeline will be technically maximized at 7.0 GWh/h for both the Day Ahead auctions as well as the upcoming monthly auction of September 2023. Availability Forward Flow (NL to GB) capacity during the inspection program During the inspection program, the BBL pipeline is physically unable to facilitate forward flow gas flows (NL > GB) which means that the Forward Flow capacity will be technically limited at 0 GWh/h. BBLC will inform the market in case of any further developments either before or during the inspection program period.
BBL pipeline inspection program September 2023
As announced in May 2023, BBL Company’s annual planned maintenance period of the BBL facilities will take place during 6 gas days starting from Tuesday 5 September 2023 at 06:00 CEST and ending at Monday 11 September at 06.00 CEST. Following this annual planned maintenance period, an internal pipeline cleaning and inspection program will be conducted. This inspection program is an essential activity for maintaining pipeline integrity and future gas transportation services. This inspection program will start on Monday 11 September at 06.00 CEST and is planned to be completed by Monday 25 September at 06.00 CEST. During the inspection program, pipeline cleaning and inspection gauges are sent through the BBL pipeline whilst the pipeline is under normal physical reverse flow conditions (GB > NL). Availability Reverse Flow (GB to NL) capacity during the inspection program During the inspection program, the physical Reverse Flow capacity of the BBL pipeline will be technically maximized at 7.0 GWh/h for both the Day Ahead auctions as well as the upcoming monthly auction of September 2023. Availability Forward Flow (NL to GB) capacity during the inspection program During the inspection program, the BBL pipeline is physically unable to facilitate forward flow gas flows (NL > GB) which means that the Forward Flow capacity will be technically limited at 0 GWh/h. BBLC will inform the market in case of any further developments either before or during the inspection program period.
Implementation enhanced pressure service
On 5 July 2023, Ofgem approved the Pressure Service Charges Agreement between BBL Company and National Gas Transmission, which makes it possible for BBL Company to increase the Reverse Flow capacity at IP Bacton from 7,699,193 kWh/h to 10 GWh/h. The increased pressure service will be implemented from 19 July 2023 onwards and is agreed upon to be initially on a temporary basis, applying up to and including Gas Day 30 September 2023. Dependent on the daily maximum pressure National Gas Transmission can facilitate at IP Bacton, BBLC shippers can make use of this additional increased Reverse Flow capacity. Starting Gas Day 19 July at 17:30 CEST, the above mentioned increased Reverse Flow capacity will be auctioned via the PRISMA platform on an interruptible day ahead basis when all firm Reverse Flow capacity has been sold. The applicable reserve price of this increased Reverse Flow capacity has an ex-ante discount of 10% compared to the standard daily firm products.
Additional BBL Firm Reverse Flow capacity available
As of gas day 15 July 2023 until 1 September 2023, BBL Company will increase the firm technical available Reverse Flow capacity (GB > NL) to 7,699,193 kWh/h. As all capacity up to 7 GWh/h is already sold out, an additional 699,193 kWh/h Firm Reverse Flow capacity will become available in the within day and daily auctions on PRISMA. This additional Firm Reverse Flow capacity will also be offered in the upcoming monthly August 2023 auction scheduled for 17 July 2023 on PRISMA. Enhanced Pressure service On 5 July 2023, Ofgem approved the Pressure Service Charges Agreement between BBL Company and National Gas Transmission, which makes it possible for BBLC to increase the Reverse Flow capacity at IP Bacton from 7,699,193 kWh/h to 10 GWh/h. This increased Reverse Flow capacity will be offered on a day ahead basis only. In the coming days, BBL Company will inform the market on the implementation date and further characteristics related to this service.
Market Demand Assessment for Incremental Capacity
In accordance with the incremental capacity process as described by NC CAM (Regulation 2017/459), interested parties are invited to submit non-binding demand indications for capacity above the current technical capacity of the BBL interconnector, using BBLC’s request form as published below. Requests can be submitted during a window period of 8 weeks, starting from the date that the Annual Yearly Auction opens on 3rd July 2023.
Publication of BBLC tariffs for gas year 2023 and beyond
BBLC has published its tariffs and starting multipliers for the upcoming gas year 2023 and beyond, which apply to Forward Flow (NL to GB) and Reverse Flow (GB to NL) capacity products offered via PRISMA and Implicit Allocations. These tariffs are effective from the 30th of June 2023 09:00 CET onwards. Until this date all capacity products in gas year 2023 and beyond offered via Implicit Allocations will be priced against BBLC’s current tariffs (tariffs gas year 2023 and beyond). Implicit Allocations Seasonal, quarterly and monthly unbundled capacity products are available for a maximum of the next 8 seasons, 8 quarters and 8 months. BBLC offers 75% of BBL’s technical capacity through Implicit Allocations for both directions. An overview of the available capacity can be found at BBLC’s website at the bottom of the page Implicit Allocations (Downloads section). For more information on Implicit Allocations, please get in contact with our broker Cavendish Markets BV. No yearly capacity products offered in BBLC PRISMA annual auction BBLC has been granted an exemption on certain articles in NC CAM which allows BBLC to decide whether or not to offer standard capacity products. Given the fact that the BBL is operated as a seasonal pipeline and BBLC aims for integrity and efficient operations, BBLC will not offer any yearly capacity products in the upcoming PRISMA annual auction on 3 July 2023. In case of any questions, please feel free to contact the BBLC commercial team: [email protected]
Update planned maintenance 2023
BBL’s annual planned maintenance period will take place during 6 gas days starting from Tuesday 5 September 2023 at 06:00 CEST. Activities will be resumed on Monday 11 September 2023 at 06:00 CEST. During this maintenance period there are no gas flows possible.
Meet BBL Company at E-world 2023
You are very welcome to meet us at E-world 2023 in Essen (Germany) which is being organized from 23 to 25 May 2023. Our team will be present at BBL Company’s own stand number 2-107 (located in hall 2). If you would like to schedule a meeting with us, please complete the form below before the 15th of May 2023. Please indicate possible dates / time slots and topics you wish to discuss, we will then inform you as soon as possible about the final date / time. Of course, we can also arrange to meet you elsewhere on E-world. If you plan to visit us at E-world, please let us know by email at [email protected] and we will be happy to provide you with a free day ticket.
Reminder: Conversion to daylight saving time 26 March 2023
On gas day 25 March 2023 there will be a switch from winter time to summer time. This means that this gas day will have 23 hours. To avoid any problems which may occur, please be aware of the following: BBL expects nominations according to the EDIGAS protocol. This means that a nomination for this gas day (25 March) consists of 23 hours in which, translated to UTC, the nomination for that day begins at 05:00 UTC (06:00 LET) and ends at 04:00 UTC (also 06:00 LET). When using ENOM with appropriate settings, this feature is facilitated when nominating for this gas day. When not using ENOM, please make sure that EDIGAS messages will have this time frame. Whenever possible, avoid sending in nominations in the period between 01:00 LET and 03:00 LET. Due to possible technical limitations, incoming nominations may be handled specially and different from the normal process and thus may introduce extra risks. We expect a nomination of 23 hours. Normally the daily amount will decrease with the same factor, so 23/24 part will be delivered, hourly quantities will stay the same. This last part depends on the delivery agreement between shippers. Take your hourly quantities into account with regard to the daily amount to be delivered.