Assistance to assessing options improving market conditions for bio-methane and gas market rules

This report presents the work carried out by Artelys, Trinomics, Fraunhofer IEE and the JRC on behalf of the European Commission as part of the Impact Assessment of the proposals envisaged for the revision of the EU Gas Markets Directive (2009/73/EC) in the year 2021. The report presents the problems perceived by the European Commission in the current directive and the shortcomings that could arise in the face of a rapidly changing energy system. The study examines various measures proposed by the EC to address these inefficiencies, inter alia by using the European energy system modelling tool METIS. The analysis of the measures is divided into five main themes, namely “Integration of renewable and low-carbon gases into the market”, “Reforms of the European gas interconnection entry/exit tariff system”, “Regulatory environment for gas quality (including the injection of a portion of hydrogen into a gas network)”, “Regulatory environment for LNG terminals” and “Network planning in view of energy system integration”. The report describes in detail the main economic, environmental and social impacts of the individual policy measures.