Directive (EU) 2024/1788

means a final customer of natural gas, or a group of jointly acting final customers of natural gas, that:

means all services necessary for access to and the operation of transmission networks, distribution networks, LNG facilities or natural gas storage facilities, including load balancing, blending and injection of inert gas, excluding facilities reserved exclusively for transmission system operators carrying out their functions;

means a system to which a specific balancing regime is applicable, that includes the transmission system and may include the whole or part of distribution systems;

means, in the context of data protection and security in a smart metering environment, the most effective, advanced and practically suitable techniques for providing, in principle, the basis for complying with the Union data protection and security rules;

means the information provided on a final customer’s bill, apart from a request for payment;

means a charge or penalty imposed on customers by suppliers or market participants for terminating a gas supply or service contract;

means any rights, contracts or any other means which, either separately or in combination and having regard to the considerations of fact or law involved, confer the possibility of exercising decisive influence on an undertaking, in particular by:

means an analogue or electronic meter with no capability to both transmit and receive data;

means a wholesale or final customer of natural gas or hydrogen or a natural gas or hydrogen undertaking which purchases natural gas or hydrogen;

means a natural gas pipeline complementary to the interconnected system;

means the transport of natural gas through local or regional pipeline networks with a view to its delivery to customers, excluding supply;

means a natural or legal person that carries out the function of distribution of natural gas and is responsible for operating, ensuring the maintenance of and, if necessary, developing the distribution system in a given area and, where applicable, its interconnections with other systems, and for ensuring the long-term ability of the system to meet reasonable demands for the distribution of natural gas;

means energy efficiency first as defined in Article 2, point (18), of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999;

means energy poverty as defined in Article 2, point (52), of Directive (EU) 2023/1791;

means a point subject to booking procedures by network users providing access to an entry-exit system;

means an access model for natural gas or hydrogen where system users book capacity rights independently on entry and exit points, that includes the transmission system and may include the whole or part of the distribution system, or hydrogen networks;

means a point subject to booking procedures by network users enabling gas flows out of the entry-exit system;

means a customer purchasing natural gas or hydrogen for customer’s own use;

means a contract for the supply of natural gas or hydrogen, excluding a natural gas derivative;

means an undertaking that performs at least one of the functions of production, transmission, distribution, supply or storage of natural gas, as well as a non-natural gas activity;

means a customer purchasing natural gas or hydrogen for customer’s own household consumption;

means a network of pipelines for the local or regional transport of hydrogen of a high grade of purity, which primarily serves the purpose of supplying directly connected customers and does not include hydrogen interconnectors, and which is not directly connected to hydrogen storage facilities or hydrogen terminals, unless the network in question was a natural gas distribution system on 4 August 2024 and has been partially or fully repurposed for the transport of hydrogen, or to two or more hydrogen interconnectors;

means a natural or legal person that is responsible for operating, ensuring the maintenance of and, if necessary, developing a hydrogen distribution network in a given area and, where applicable, its interconnections with other hydrogen networks, and for ensuring the long-term ability of the network to meet reasonable demands for hydrogen transport;

means a hydrogen network which crosses or spans a border between Member States for the purpose of connecting the national hydrogen networks of those Member States, or a hydrogen network between a Member State and a third country up to the territory of the Member States or the territorial sea of that Member State;

means the storage of hydrogen of a high grade of purity by compression in hydrogen networks, excluding facilities reserved for hydrogen network operators carrying out their functions;

means a network of onshore and offshore pipelines used for the transport of hydrogen of a high grade of purity with a view to its delivery to customers, excluding supply;

means a natural or legal person that carries out the function of hydrogen transport and is responsible for operating, ensuring the maintenance of and, if necessary, developing the hydrogen network in a given area and, where applicable, its interconnections with other hydrogen networks, and for ensuring the long-term ability of the system to meet reasonable demands for the transport of hydrogen;

means hydrogen purity and contaminants in line with applicable hydrogen quality standards for the hydrogen system;

means a facility used for the stocking of hydrogen of a high grade of purity:

means a natural or legal person that carries out the function of storage of hydrogen and is responsible for operating a hydrogen storage facility;

means a system of infrastructure, including hydrogen networks, hydrogen storage and hydrogen terminals, which contains hydrogen of a high grade of purity;

means an installation used for the offloading and transformation of liquid hydrogen or liquid ammonia into gaseous hydrogen for injection into the hydrogen network or the natural gas system or the liquefaction of gaseous hydrogen and its onloading, including ancillary services and temporary storage necessary for the transformation process and subsequent injection into the hydrogen network, but not any part of the hydrogen terminal used for storage;

means a natural or legal person that carries out the function of offloading and transformation of liquid hydrogen or liquid ammonia into gaseous hydrogen for injection into the hydrogen network or the natural gas system or the liquefaction and onloading of gaseous hydrogen and is responsible for operating a hydrogen terminal;

means a network of pipelines for the transport of hydrogen of a high grade of purity, in particular a network which includes hydrogen interconnectors or which is directly connected to hydrogen storage, hydrogen terminals or two or more hydrogen interconnectors or which primarily serves the purpose of transporting hydrogen to other hydrogen networks, hydrogen storage or hydrogen terminals, without excluding the possibility of such networks to serve the purpose of supplying directly connected customers;

means a natural or legal person that is responsible for operating, ensuring the maintenance of and, if necessary, developing a hydrogen transmission network in a given area and, where applicable, its interconnections with other hydrogen networks, and for ensuring the long-term ability of the network to meet reasonable demands for hydrogen transport;

means the transmission or distribution of hydrogen through a hydrogen network with a view to its delivery to customers, excluding supply;

means a natural or legal person that carries out at least one of the following functions: production, transport, supply, purchase or storage of hydrogen or operation of a hydrogen terminal, and that is responsible for the commercial, technical or maintenance tasks related to those functions, excluding final customers;

means a vertically or horizontally integrated undertaking;

means a number of systems which are linked with each other;

means a physical or virtual point connecting adjacent entry-exit systems or connecting an entry-exit system with an interconnector, in so far as such a point is subject to booking procedures by network users;

means a transmission line which crosses or spans a border between Member States for the purpose of connecting the national transmission system of those Member States or a transmission line between a Member State and a third country up to the territory of the Member States or the territorial sea of that Member State;

means, in the context of smart metering, the ability of two or more energy or communication networks, systems, devices, applications or components to interwork to exchange and use information in order to perform required functions;

means a gas supply contract exceeding one year;

means recycled carbon fuels as defined in Article 2, point (35), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, low-carbon hydrogen and synthetic gaseous and liquid fuels the energy content of which is derived from low-carbon hydrogen, that meet the greenhouse gas emission reduction threshold of 70 % compared to the fossil fuel comparator for renewable fuels of non-biological origin set out in the methodology adopted pursuant to Article 29a(3) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;

means the part of gaseous fuels in recycled carbon fuels as defined in Article 2, point (35), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, low-carbon hydrogen and synthetic gaseous fuels the energy content of which is derived from low-carbon hydrogen, that meet the greenhouse gas emission reduction threshold of 70 % compared to the fossil fuel comparator for renewable fuels of non-biological origin set out in the methodology adopted pursuant to Article 29a(3) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;

means hydrogen the energy content of which is derived from non-renewable sources, which meets the greenhouse gas emission reduction threshold of 70 % compared to the fossil fuel comparator for renewable fuels of non-biological origin set out in the methodology for assessing greenhouse gas emissions savings from renewable fuels of non-biological origin and from recycled carbon fuels, adopted pursuant to Article 29a(3) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;

means a natural or legal person that buys, sells or produces natural gas or hydrogen or that is an operator of storage services including through the placing of orders to trade in one or more markets for natural gas or hydrogen including balancing markets;

means a microenterprise, a small enterprise or a medium-sized enterprise as defined in Article 2 of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC;

means, in the context of smart metering data, that it is provided within a period matching the shortest settlement period in the national market;

means gas that primarily consists of methane, including biomethane, or other types of gas, that can technically and safely be injected into, and transported through, the natural gas system;

means a financial instrument specified in Section C, point 5, 6 or 7, of Annex I to Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, where that financial instrument relates to natural gas;

means the storage of natural gas by compression in transmission and distribution systems, excluding facilities reserved for transmission system operators carrying out their functions;

means a facility used for the stocking of natural gas and owned or operated by a natural gas undertaking, including the part of LNG facilities used for natural gas storage, excluding the portion used for production operations, and excluding facilities reserved exclusively for transmission system operators in carrying out their functions;

means a natural or legal person that carries out the function of storage of natural gas and is responsible for operating a natural gas storage facility;

means a system of infrastructure, including pipelines, liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and natural gas storage facilities, which transports natural gas;

means a natural or legal person that carries out production, transmission, distribution, supply, purchase or storage of natural gas, including LNG, and which is responsible for the commercial, technical or maintenance tasks related to those functions, excluding final customers;

means a customer or a potential customer of a system operator or a system operator itself in so far as it is necessary for that system operator to carry out its functions in relation to transport of natural gas or hydrogen;

means a customer purchasing natural gas or hydrogen which are not for his or her own household use;

means an affiliated undertaking as defined in Article 2, point (12), of Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, or an undertaking which belongs to the same shareholders;

means biogas as defined in Article 2, point (28), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001including biogas that has been upgraded to biomethane, and renewable fuels of non-biological origin as defined in Article 2, point (36), of that Directive;

means repurposing as defined in Article 2, point (18), of Regulation (EU) 2022/869 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

means an electronic system that is capable of measuring natural gas or hydrogen fed into the grid or natural gas or hydrogen consumed from the grid, providing more information than a conventional meter, and that is capable of transmitting and receiving data for information, monitoring and control purposes, using a form of electronic communication;

means either the start of construction works on the investment or the first firm commitment to order equipment or other commitment that makes the investment irreversible, whichever occurs first.

means a supplier who is designated to take over the supply of natural gas to customers of a supplier which has ceased to operate;

means the sale, including resale, of natural gas, including LNG, or hydrogen, including in the form of liquid organic hydrogen carriers or liquid hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives including ammonia or methanol to customers;

means any natural or legal person that carries out the function of supply;

means a charge or penalty for changing suppliers or market participants, including contract termination fees, that is directly or indirectly imposed on customers by suppliers, market participants or system operators;

means any transmission networks, distribution networks, LNG facilities or natural gas storage facilities owned or operated by a natural gas undertaking, including linepack and its facilities supplying ancillary services and those of related undertakings necessary for providing access to transmission, distribution and LNG;

means a natural or legal person supplying natural gas or hydrogen to, or being supplied by, the system;

means the transport of natural gas through a network, which mainly contains high-pressure pipelines, other than an upstream pipeline network and other than the part of high-pressure pipelines primarily used in the context of local distribution of natural gas, with a view to its delivery to customers, excluding supply;

means a natural or legal person that carries out the function of transmission and is responsible for operating, ensuring the maintenance of and, if necessary, developing the transmission system in a given area and, where applicable, its interconnections with other systems, and for ensuring the long-term ability of the system to meet reasonable demands for the transport of natural gas;

means any pipeline or network of pipelines operated or constructed as part of an oil or natural gas production project, or used to convey natural gas from one or more such projects to a processing plant or terminal or final coastal landing terminal;

means a natural gas undertaking or a group of natural gas undertakings or a hydrogen undertaking or group of hydrogen undertakings where the same person or the same persons are entitled, directly or indirectly, to exercise control, and where the undertaking or group of undertakings perform at least one of the functions of transmission, distribution, hydrogen transport, hydrogen terminal operation, LNG or natural gas or hydrogen storage, and at least one of the functions of production or supply of natural gas or of hydrogen;

means two or more interconnection points which connect the same two adjacent entry-exit systems, integrated together for the purposes of providing a single-capacity service;

means a non-physical commercial point within an entry-exit system where natural gas or hydrogen are exchanged between a seller and a buyer without the need to book capacity;

means a natural or legal person other than a transmission system operator or distribution system operator who purchases natural gas or hydrogen for the purpose of resale inside or outside the system where the person is established;