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Network development for natural gas and hydrogen and powers to make investment decisions

1. At least every two years, all transmission system operators and hydrogen transmission network operators shall submit to the relevant regulatory authority a ten-year network development plan based on existing and forecast supply and demand after having consulted the relevant stakeholders in accordance with paragraph 2, point (f). There shall be one single network development plan per Member State for natural gas and one single network development plan per Member State for hydrogen, or one joint plan for natural gas and hydrogen per Member State. Member States allowing for one joint plan shall ensure that such a plan is sufficiently transparent to allow the regulatory authority to clearly identify the specific needs of the natural gas sector and the specific needs of the hydrogen sector addressed by the plan. Separate modelling shall be performed for each energy carrier, with separate chapters showing network maps for natural gas and network maps for hydrogen. Member States in which separate plans for natural gas and hydrogen are developed shall ensure that transmission system operators and hydrogen transmission network operators cooperate closely where decisions need to be made to ensure system efficiency, as defined in Article 2, point (4), of Directive (EU) 2023/1791, across energy carriers, such as for repurposing. Hydrogen transmission network operators shall closely cooperate with electricity transmission system operators and electricity distribution system operators, if applicable, in order to coordinate joint infrastructure requirements, such as the location of electrolysers and the relevant transmission infrastructure, and shall take the utmost account of their views. Member States shall endeavour to ensure coordinated planning steps of the respective ten-year network development plans for natural gas, hydrogen and electricity. Infrastructure operators, including LNG terminal operators, natural gas storage system operators, distribution system operators, hydrogen distribution network operators, hydrogen terminal operators, hydrogen storage operators, district heating infrastructure operators and electricity operators shall be required to provide and exchange all relevant information to the transmission system operators and hydrogen transmission network operators of the ten-year network development plans. The ten-year network development plan for natural gas shall contain efficient measures in order to guarantee the adequacy of the natural gas system and the security of supply, in particular compliance with the infrastructure standards laid down in Regulation (EU) 2017/1938. The ten-year network development plans shall be published and accessible on a website along with the outcome of the stakeholder consultation. That website shall be updated regularly to ensure that the relevant stakeholders are informed about the timing, manner and scope of the consultation.

2. The ten-year network development plans referred to in paragraph 1 shall, in particular:

(a) contain comprehensive and detailed information on the main infrastructure that needs to be built or upgraded over the next ten years, taking into account any infrastructure reinforcements needed for connecting renewable gas and low-carbon gas installations and including infrastructure developed to enable reverse flows to the transmission network;

(b) contain information on all the investments already decided and identify new investments and demand-side solutions not requiring new infrastructure investments which have to be executed in the next three years;

(c) in the case of natural gas, include comprehensive and detailed information on infrastructure that can or is to be decommissioned;

(d) in the case of hydrogen, include comprehensive and detailed information on infrastructure that can or is to be repurposed for the transmission of hydrogen, in particular to deliver hydrogen to end-users in hard-to-decarbonise sectors taking into account the greenhouse gas abatement potential and the energy and cost-efficiency in relation to other options;

(e) provide for a time frame for all investment and decommissioning projects;

(f) be based on a joint scenario developed every two years between the relevant infrastructure operators, including relevant distribution system operators, of at least natural gas, hydrogen, electricity and, where applicable, district heating;

(g) in the case of natural gas, be consistent with the results of the common and national risk assessments pursuant to Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1938;

(h) be in line with the integrated national energy and climate plan and its updates, take into account the state of play in the integrated national energy and climate reports submitted in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1999, be consistent with targets set by Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and support the climate-neutrality objective set out in Article 2(1) and Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1119;

(i) be consistent with the Union-wide ten-year network development plan for natural gas referred to in Article 32 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1789 and the Union-wide ten-year network development plan for hydrogen referred to in Article 60 of that Regulation, as applicable;

(j) take into account the hydrogen distribution network development plan referred to in Article 56 and the natural gas network decommissioning plans referred to in Article 57. The joint scenarios referred to in the first subparagraph, point (f), shall be based on reasonable assumptions about the evolution of the production, supply and consumption, in particular the needs of hard-to-decarbonise sectors taking into account the greenhouse gas abatement potential and the energy and cost-efficiency in relation to other options, and shall take into account demand-side solutions not requiring new infrastructure investments. They shall also take into account cross-border exchanges, including with third countries, and the role of hydrogen storage and the integration of hydrogen terminals. Infrastructure operators shall conduct an extensive consultation process on such scenarios open to the relevant stakeholders including the distribution system operators for natural gas and electricity, hydrogen distribution network operators, associations involved in markets for electricity, natural gas and hydrogen, heating and cooling, supply and production undertakings, independent aggregators, demand-response operators, organisations involved in energy efficiency solutions, energy consumer associations, and civil society representatives. The consultations shall take place at an early stage prior to the development of the ten-year network development plan in an open, inclusive and transparent manner. All documents provided by the infrastructure operators to facilitate the consultations shall be made public, as shall the outcome of the stakeholder consultation. The relevant website shall be updated in a timely manner when those documents are available so that relevant stakeholders are informed sufficiently to allow them to participate in the consultation effectively. The joint scenarios referred to in the first subparagraph, point (f), of this paragraph shall be in line with Union-wide scenarios established in accordance with Article 12 of Regulation (EU) 2022/869 and with the integrated national energy and climate plan and its updates in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 and support the climate-neutrality objective set out in Article 2(1) and Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1119. Such joint scenarios shall be approved by the competent national authority. The European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change established pursuant to Article 10a of Regulation (EC) No 401/2009 may, on its own initiative, provide an opinion on the compatibility of joint scenarios with the Union’s 2030 targets for energy and climate and its 2050 climate-neutrality objective. That opinion shall be taken into account by the competent national authority.

3. When elaborating the ten-year network development plans, the transmission system operator and the hydrogen transmission network operator shall fully take into account the potential for alternatives to system expansion, for instance the use of demand response, as well as expected consumption following the application of the energy efficiency first principle in accordance with Article 27 of Directive (EU) 2023/1791, trade with other countries and the Union-wide network development plans. In view of the energy system integration, the transmission system operator and the hydrogen transmission network operator shall assess how to address, where possible, a need across electricity, heat where applicable and natural gas and hydrogen systems including information on the optimal location and size of energy storage and power to gas assets as well as the co-location of hydrogen production and consumption. The hydrogen transmission network operator shall include information on the location of end-users in hard-to-decarbonise sectors with a view to targeting the use of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen in those sectors.

4. The regulatory authority shall consult all actual or potential system users on the ten-year network development plan in an open and transparent manner. Persons or undertakings claiming to be potential system users may be required to substantiate such claims. The regulatory authority shall publish the result of the consultation process, including possible needs for investments, decommissioning of assets and demand-side solutions not requiring new infrastructure investments.

5. The regulatory authority shall examine whether the ten-year network development plan complies with paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article, covers all investment needs identified during the consultation process, and, where appropriate, whether it is consistent with the most recent Union-wide simulation of disruption scenarios carried out by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSO for Gas) pursuant to Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1938, with the regional and national risk assessments pursuant to Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1938 and with the non-binding Union-wide ten-year network development plans (the ‘Union-wide network development plans’) referred to in Article 30(1), point (b), of Regulation (EU) 2019/943, and with Articles 32 and 60 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1789. If any doubt arises as to the consistency with the Union-wide network development plans, the regulatory authority shall consult ACER. The regulatory authority may require the transmission system operator to amend its ten-year network development plan. The competent national authorities shall examine the consistency of the ten-year network development plan with the climate-neutrality objective set out in Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1119, with the national energy and climate plan and its updates and with the integrated national energy and climate reports submitted in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 and, in the case of inconsistency, may provide the regulatory authority with a substantiated opinion setting out the inconsistency, to be taken duly into account.

6. The regulatory authority shall monitor and evaluate the implementation of the ten-year network development plan.

7. In circumstances where the independent system operator or independent transmission operator, or the integrated hydrogen transmission network operator or independent hydrogen transmission network operator, other than for overriding reasons beyond its control, does not execute an investment which, under the ten-year network development plan, was to be executed in the following three years, Member States shall ensure that the regulatory authority is required to take at least one of the following measures to ensure that the investment in question is made if such investment is still relevant on the basis of the most recent ten-year network development plan:

(a) require the transmission system operator or the hydrogen transmission network operator to execute the investment in question;

(b) organise a tender procedure open to any investors for the investment in question;

(c) oblige the transmission system operator or the hydrogen transmission network operator to accept a capital increase to finance the necessary investment and allow independent investors to participate in the capital. Where the regulatory authority has made use of its powers pursuant to point (b) of the first subparagraph, it may oblige the transmission system operator or the hydrogen transmission network operator to agree to one or more of the following:

(a) financing by any third party;

(b) construction, repurposing or decommissioning by any third party;

(c) building the new assets concerned itself;

(d) operating the new assets concerned itself. The transmission system operator or the hydrogen transmission network operator shall provide the investors with all information needed to realise the investment, shall connect new assets to the transmission system or the hydrogen transmission network and shall generally make its best efforts to facilitate the implementation of the investment project. The relevant financial arrangements shall be subject to approval by the regulatory authority.

8. Where the regulatory authority has made use of its powers pursuant to paragraph 7, the relevant network access tariffs as set or approved by the regulatory authority shall cover the costs of the investment in question.