Italian energy regulator Arera has proposed that a levy be imposed on gas exiting the Italian grid at cross-border interconnection points, potentially for introduction on 1 April 2024 at €2.19/MWh.
The purpose of the charge — which Arera calls a "neutrality charge" — is to cover state energy agency GSE's losses from buying gas at high prices in the summer of 2022 to ensure that Italian storage sites were filled.
The agency bought 17.88TWh of gas in July-September last year for €4bn — an average cost of €224/MWh — according to its annual report. But it did not hedge this gas on forward markets, and only determined the method by which it would sell the volumes in November 2022, when prices had already fallen sharply from their peak in the third quarter of that year.
Until now, Italy had levied a toll on gas exiting the transport grid at domestic points to cover GSE's losses, in addition to funds provided by the state budget.
Initially, it had decided against imposing a levy on international flows because it would not have been in line with a the spirit of European solidarity, or with rules on the efficient functioning of the internal gas market, the regulator said.
But Arera said that in light of Germany's decision to adopt a storage levy affecting international flows as well as domestic supply, it has re-examined its position on the issue.
Germany adopted its storage levy on 1 October 2022 to cover the costs incurred by market area manager THE from buying gas in summer 2022 to ensure storage sites were filled.
Arera intends to recoup the costs of filling storage sites through the levy within three years. The level of €2.19/MWh is its best estimate of the cost required to cover the losses, taking into account likely income from sales of the stored gas. It proposes annual recalculations of the charge, with the first to take place in December 2024.
The regulator is inviting comment on the proposal, to be submitted by 22 January 2024.
The levy could reduce the attractiveness of Italian exports. The country can export directly to Switzerland, Slovenia and Austria. And of the 1.79bn m³ of physical exports from Italy so far this year, 1.23bn m³ went to Austria at the Tarvisio point.
Bernhard Painz, board member of Austrian area market manager AGGM, reacted negatively to the proposal, saying it put the European internal market "on the brink of collapse" and that it would exacerbate the decoupling of different market areas. The proposal would make Austria's second supply source for diversifying away from Russian gas — after Germany — significantly more expensive, he said.
The proposal is hoped to serve as a "wake-up call to the European Commission to finally deal with the German gas storage levy", Painz said.
