French Single Market Zone Draws Near

The Val de Saone pipeline, which will allow the supply of an additional 250 GWh/d of gas to flow from the north to the south of France, will be operational November 1 as scheduled, French grid operator GRTgaz said August 29.

With the completion of works comes a single market zone, Trading Region France, for the whole country. There are now two markets: PEG (gas exchange point) Nord and Sud, with sometimes extreme price differences between the two as LNG may be trapped in the south; and the south cannot benefit from competitively priced gas in the north.

The work included a 190-km pipeline of 1.20 metre diameter between the cities of Etrez (Ain) and Voisines (Haute-Marne) and an interconnection station in Etrez; as well as the reinforcement of an existing compressor station and two interconnection stations.

The Val de Saone (GRTgaz) and Gascogne Midi (Terega and GRTgaz) programs, approved by the CRE on May 7th, 2014, are the foundations of the single zone. Furthermore, both TSOs developed contractual mechanisms in co-construction along with the market at an "optimised cost."

From now on, the teams of both TSOs will be working on the latest IT tests, final trials and system settings while regularly keeping the actors of the market updated, said GRTgaz.

It said: "For end users, this implementation will have several benefits: a single price of gas; a more competitive, liquid and dynamic French market better interconnected with the main European and world marketplaces; and reinforced security of supply in France."