Brussels requires Spain to reserve 10% of quarterly gas capacity
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Maghreb Emergent
Spain will have to reserve 10% of existing and additional capacity for quarterly products at the Almería and Tarifa gas points, linked notably to Algeria. The European Commission rejected Madrid’s request for a derogation, while the measure is under consultation by the Spanish regulator, according to Maghreb Emergent.
Spain’s National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) proposes requiring the country to reserve 10% of existing nominal gas capacity and 10% of any additional capacity for quarterly products, reports Maghreb Emergent. The measure applies to the Almería entry point, connected to Algeria via the Medgaz pipeline, and the Tarifa exit point on the Maghreb-Europe pipeline towards Morocco.
The draft resolution, put out for public consultation on 30 October, implements a European Commission decision notified on 29 September. Brussels rejected Spain’s request for an exemption from these short-term capacity reservation requirements, while granting a derogation until 31 December 2032 from other EU rules governing capacity auctions on the two links.
The CNMC had requested a temporary derogation from the European Commission and the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) on 4 February. In its opinion of 30 April, ACER noted that the flexibility in Spain’s system, in force since 2020, had not been fully used, according to Maghreb Emergent. Since 5 August 2026, European regulation 2024/1789 has applied the EU’s network codes to entry and exit points in third countries.
