March 2022

This report analyses the potential contribution of the gas market in the energy transition by studying how the gas infrastructure can improve the flexibility and interoperability of the energy systems. The report looks at the market and infrastructure framework in the Mediterranean region, the flexibility and interoperability of the energy system, and the integration of energy to achieve decarbonisation. It also draws conclusions in the light of its outcomes.

March 2022

This short document is based on MEDREG’s 1st Hydrogen Workshop held in November 2021, which gathered Mediterranean energy regulators, representatives of the industry and other institutions such as the European Commission. It addresses hydrogen technologies and their role in the energy sector, the technical development of hydrogen, its challenges, the southern shore strategy and expectations, and the hydrogen future perspectives. Finally, the document draws some conclusions and proposes a way forward on hydrogen at regional level.

2 March 2021

MEDREG has provided continuous support to the Egyptian Gas Regulatory Authority (GASREG) through the peer-to-peer sharing of experience and good practices. As part of these support activities, in July 2020, MEDREG organized a virtual study visit for GASREG to the French regulator CRE on the “Development and Implementation of TPA rules and activities for the gas sector.” The activity addressed the regulators’ role in the Regulation of TPA to gas infrastructure, the impact of TPA on capacity allocation mechanisms and congestion management procedures, balancing rules and flexibility, grid ownership models and unbundling regimes and the investment plan. The webinar was the occasion to outline the priorities for GASREG, including fostering a transparent and competitive gas market in Egypt.

19 February 2021

This report aims to present an overview of the current gas market situation and its role in the energy transition in the Mediterranean region, with a particular focus on the role of the regulator. This report also includes an analysis of the mechanism available for the gas market to foster the energy transition and the applicability of this mechanism in MEDREG countries.

1 December 2020

Le rapport s’articule autour de la place et des attentes des consommateurs que la CRE place au centre du fonctionnement du marché de détail. Il vise à apporter une information claire et pédagogique sur le fonctionnement et les enjeux de ce marché. Le rapport est structuré autour des catégories de clients résidentiels et professionnels. L’objectif principal de l’ouverture des marchés de détail à la concurrence est d’apporter au consommateur un meilleur service de fourniture d’électricité et de gaz, qu’il s’agisse du prix, de la qualité de service, ou d’innovations commerciales ou techniques. Dans ce contexte, le développement des offres de marché est un indicateur essentiel, car il traduit le caractère dynamique et innovant du marché, à un moment où les attentes des consommateurs évoluent, encouragées notamment par la transition énergétique et le développement du numérique.

1 December 2020

A decade after the adoption of the third legislative package, this new edition of the CRE report on interconnections, covering the years 2018 and 2019, marks the coming of age of the internal market, but also the opening towards a new era, that of the decarbonisation of energy in Europe. The European Union’s stated ambitions represent a remarkable change of direction and bring with them many challenges. However, one certainty remains: the interconnections between national energy systems are an essential asset for the transition to more renewable energies and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions at European level.

December 2019

This report assesses the level of transparency in gas infrastructures – transmission pipelines, LNG facilities and storages – among the members of the Association for the Mediterranean Regulators (MEDREG) and the Energy Community Regulatory Board (ECRB). This monitoring exercise aims to achieve a minimum common transparency standard by identifying the necessary improvements and making a set of recommendations.
Although a certain level of transparency has been established among the analysed countries, improvements and further progress are required. Legislation on transparency is not yet well established among non-EU MEDREG members, which creates an impediment against the development and progression of the principle of transparency.

January 2019

This report analyses the  application of Third Party Access (TPA) in the  countries of the Mediterranean region according to several expected actions that MEDREG countries should comply with. MEDREG categorised them in three levels of recommendations:

recommendations applicable to all MEDREG countries;

recommendations applicable to MEDREG countries  where a TPA regime is in place but further actions may be necessary; and

recommendations applicable to MEDREG countries with more developed gas markets.

Overall, MEDREG countries seem to be slowly but steadily closing their regulatory gaps in terms of TPA, albeit some difference remains, notably concerning the issuing of transparent rules and the development of anti-hoarding mechanisms.

January 2019

This report assesses the capacity allocation mechanisms at interconnection points in the Mediterranean region and defines Good Practice Guidelines for Capacity Allocation, focusing on the most efficient allocation mechanisms of capacity at interconnection points.
Such mechanisms support the development of cross-border trade and can ensure an efficient use of infrastructure and a competitive gas wholesale market in the Mediterranean region.
MEDREG’s survey investigated capacity products and capacity allocation mechanisms, congestions and their management, ways of cooperation among TSOs and the specific role of the regulator, resulting in 7 recommendations.

September 2018

This leaflet provides an insight of the existing natural gas infrastructure and gas market competition present in the Mediterranean. Based on two reports published earlier in 2018, this short publication highlights the main outcomes of these studies in a reader-friendly and approachable way.
MEDREG seeks to identify requirements that could lead to the development of an integrated, competitive, secure and functioning gas market in the Mediterranean region. In order to develop this work, MEDREG has developed a set of indicators, reported in this leaflet, to help understand the current situation in its member countries.

July 2018

MEDREG’s case studies on tariffs methodologies shares good practices and information among MEDREG members regarding the computation of natural gas access tariffs to transmission networks, distribution networks, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Terminals and underground storages. Four different case studies have been collected and explored, specifically Portugal, France, Italy and Turkey.
As a result, the report aims at providing an insight on tariff methodologies in countries that have diverse histories and practices of energy regulation in order to broaden the regulators’ understanding of the systems in other countries and to increase the trust of market players and potential investors interested in these energy markets.

April 2018

Based on data collected from 14 Mediterranean countries, the report provides a picture of the gas infrastructure in the Mediterranean including interconnection points, transmission pipelines crossing the country, transmission and storage capacities, usage of the capacities and future investment plans across MEDREG members.
This Gas Infrastructure Map report also shows potential infrastructure developments in the natural gas transmission systems under several future natural gas demand scenarios and includes infrastructure maps of Croatia, Cyprus, France, Jordan, Malta, Spain, Turkey.

April 2018

Using a common set of indicators, the report provides an assessment of gas market competition among MEDREG members for household and non-household consumers and analyses gas retail prices in each country.
This assessment focuses on the situation in 10 countries (Croatia, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Portugal, Spain and Turkey), considering that there is no gas consumption in Albania, Cyprus, Malta and Montenegro.
The report shows major differences between the national gas markets in the MEDREG countries surveyed in terms of energy demand, number of customers, distribution of gas demand between the household and non-household segments, level of liberalisation of the gas retail market, and geographical coverage for gas suppliers. The analysis also provides information on switching rates and dispute resolution.

January 2017

The purpose of this work is to assess the allocation mechanisms actually adopted in the Mediterranean region and to define MEDREG’s Good Practice Guidelines for capacity allocation. Guidelines will aim to help identify more efficient allocation mechanisms of the capacity at the interconnection points to support the development of cross-border trade and of an efficient gas wholesale market in the Mediterranean region. Given the diversity of the current adopted methodologies (first-come-first-served, auctioning, others), an initial status assessment is intended, based on a questionnaire distributed to the Regulators of the MEDREG countries. The assessment also concerns the congestion management mechanisms adopted, if any, that are strictly related to the efficient use of the capacity allocated.

December 2015

The Gas working group developed a first phase work methodology for the achievement of this deliverable. This report intends to provide a review of the level of competition in the retail gas markets for household and non-household consumers, across MEDREG members. Given the diversity of situations in the different countries this assessment work intends to evaluate the retail natural gas market of each country, looking for the main market competition indicators. The assessment work also includes the collection and the analysis of data related with the retail gas prices of each country, for the household and non-household segments. The information from the different MEDREG members will be obtained by a questionnaire, which will be divided in two different parts. The first part will include direct questions concerning the market competition indicators. The second part will include tables to be filled out and questions about retail gas prices for household and non-household customers. The questionnaire will be based in the most recent situation of each country

June 2015

The aim of this report is to assess the progress made on transparency in the Mediterranean region since the first status review developed in 2011. The achieved results shows that the situation regarding transparency is mainly unchanged, although some progress has been detected in some countries and no major setbacks have been registered. The report also describes that the level of transparency is influenced by the existence of a legal obligation to publish information on the gas system and market. In the absence of such legal requirements, the compliance with MEDREG GGP recommendations is voluntary and may depend on the own operators’ interest and the capacity and powers of regulators to have an influence on their information disclosure policies.

November 2014

This Second Report of the Gas Working Group will provide an updated picture of gas markets, infrastructure and regulatory frameworks in MEDREG members’ countries. This updated picture will serve as tool to benchmark the countries in the region and highlight the potential opportunities of the harmonization of regulatory frameworks, as well as the creation of a commercial, technical and legal level playing field. The report stresses how gas consumption levels throughout the Mediterranean have increased, with a need to further enhance intra-regional trading: natural gas networks need a clear and ambitious investment roadmap as well as a harmonized legal framework for the intra-regional trade.

November 2013

According to the aspects addressed in the previous report issued by the GAS WG on “Status review on Third Party Access in the Mediterranean region”, the Guidelines of Good Practice on Third Party Access in the Mediterranean region focus on: market opening, unbundling, TPA to the infrastructures, network code and TPA rules, tariffs, methodologies for capacity allocation and congestion management, balancing, anti-­-hording mechanisms, quality of service and dispute settlement. For each aspect the report contains the main conclusions of the previous study “Status review on Third Party Access in the Mediterranean region”.

June 2011

One of the most important preconditions to achieve an integrated, competitive and secure gas market in the Mediterranean region is ensuring that participants in the gas markets have easyaccessible and non-discriminatory access to all the information they need. Transparency in the access to this information is therefore a key principle to observe in order to reach this objective. As foreseen in MEDREG Action Plan 2010-2012, the Ad-Hoc Group on Gas (GAS AG) has investigated the transparency status in the gas systems and markets of Mediterranean countries, and has carried out a monitoring of the guidelines and recommendations on transparency contained in the MEDREG Guidelines of Good Practice (GGP) on Transparency, approved in the 8th General Assembly of 13th November 2009. This report presents the results of this research.

June 2009

The permanent Mediterranean Working Group on Electricity and Natural Gas Regulation (MEDREG) was established in 2006, with the general objective “to institutionalise cooperation between the regulatory bodies of the Mediterranean region in order to achieve a consistent harmonized and investment-friendly regulatory framework aiming at providing the maximum benefits to the energy consumers of the Mediterranean region”. The current paper, regarding to the gas sector, is one of the first steps in the pointed out direction. Through the cooperation of the MEDREG Members, the Ad Hoc Group on Gas has produced this study providing the assessment of the status of gas markets and sector regulation in the MEDREG countries so far and its expected evolution.