Fluxys Volumes Up on UK Storage Closure
Belgian transmission system operator Fluxys transited a fifth more gas in 2017 between the country's borders as the closure of Rough Storage, the UK's largest, "triggered a major shift in the provision of flexibility on the northwest European market," Fluxys said in annual results March 28.
"In this market situation, the Belgian network once again played its key role as a gas crossroads, with volumes transmitted from border to border rising by 20%," it said. Much of that flexibility was provided by the UK-Belgium Interconnector, in which Fluxys is a shareholder as well.
Fluxys also transported 1.4% more gas for Belgian consumers last year. Although domestic and commercial heating demand was down 1.2% as temperatures in 2017 were milder compared to 2016, Belgian industry recorded a healthy rise (+5.1%) and offtake by the country's power plants also increased (+3.4%). Fluxys argued that this shows that "gas-fired power plants are the indispensable partner of renewable energy generation as their flexibility offers back-up when there is too little wind or sun. They also provided for security of electricity supply when other generation units were unavailable in Q1, Q4, as well as in April and May."
Traded volumes on Belgium's ZTP gas trading place rose by nearly 10% in 2017 to 1,008 TWh (93.75bn m3), exceeding for the first time 1,000 TWh, and more than five times Belgium's annual consumption.
Regulated turnover, which is nearly all of it, was unchanged in 2017 compared with 2016, at €510.5mn ($628.1mn), down from €509.5mn. Lower operating costs are rewarded with a higher rate of return. But higher interest rates, a component of the calculation to derive the rate of return, and higher profits from non-regulated activities, added €5.5mn to its profit. And the reform of Belgian corporate income tax has a one-off impact of €16.2mn, it said. The net profit in 2017 was €70.3mn, up €21.8mn on 2016. Tariffs will fall 7.5% this year as its operating efficiency increases, the two effectively cancelling each other out as far as profit is concerned.
Commissioning of the second jetty at the Zeebrugge LNG terminal in late 2016 marked another major step forward in Belgium's rollout of LNG as a marine fuel. Fluxys is also a partner in the bunker vessel ENGIE Zeebrugge which docks there. The second jetty also enables the terminal to respond flexibly to demand for simultaneous or consecutive berthings.
In 2017, the number of Belgium's CNG-powered vehicles again rose considerably from 5,400 to 9,000. More than one CNG filling station on average opened per month, with their numbers rising from 74 to 90. Income from bunkering and transport fuel is not subject to regulation.
Fluxys also said March 21 this year that, for the first time ever, physical net imports of gas into Switzerland from Italy at Passo Gries occurred unabated from March 14-19 2018, highlighting the strategic importance of the reverse flow project by its German subsidiary Transitgas, in association with other grid operators including Swissgas, Italy's Snam and France's GRTgaz.