Bulgarian natural gas transmission system operator Bulgartransgaz is taking measures to provide incentives for the use of the Chiren underground gas storage facility to make sure as much as possible of its capacity is used, which will improve the security of gas supplies in the coming winter.
Following a decision of the Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (KEVR), the charges for access to the Chiren entry and exit points will be scrapped for the 2022/2023 natural gas year, starting from 1 October.
As of 1 October, the tenders for transmission capacity to the Chiren entry-exit points will be abolished, and the injection capacity will be distributed on the basis of the capacity for gas production, while the withdrawal capacity will be based on the allocated injection capacity.
In addition, in order to achieve a higher working volume in Chiren during the period and improve the usability of the free storage capacity, starting from 18 August, four additional storage capacity auctions will be added within the current gas month, in addition to the existing storage capacity auctions held on the platform for capacity reservation prior to every storage month.
Additional auctions will be held every Thursday of the current gas month for which they are intended, at the monthly storage capacity price. For the month of August, the auctions will be held on August 18 and 25.
