Draft concept for Eurasian Economic Union electricity market ready

A draft concept for forming the common electricity market of the Eurasian Economic Union was presented by the Eurasian Economic Commission in Almaty during sessions of the Commission’s advisory committees for electrical energy industry and for oil and gas, the Commission’s press service told BelTA.

Participants of the sessions discussed the implementation of the Eurasian Economic Union Treaty’s clauses that regulate energy industry matters, including a draft concept for forming the common electric energy market of the Eurasian Economic Union and methods to form indicative balances of energy resources of the Union member states, said the press service.

The concept for forming the common electricity market primarily determines goals and tasks of the Union’s common electrical energy market, its goal model, administration structures, mechanisms of interaction between market entities, regulation forms and methods, and also specifies stages of the formation of the market.

The draft methods for forming indicative balances of energy resources of the Eurasian Economic Union member states determine the main approaches and mechanisms to form indicative (forecast) balances of the Union’s energy resources, their structure and peculiarities involved in forming the balances of every kind of energy resources. The documents also specify the bodies of the Union member states in charge of developing these balances.

The draft documents were accepted for further deliberation and polishing. For the sake of discussing matters relevant for forming common markets in the sphere of energy industry and making coordinated decisions in a promptly manner it was decided to set up special subcommittees under the advisory committees on electric energy and on oil and gas. The composition of the subcommittees was approved. The next sessions of the advisory committees were scheduled for late September 2014.

Danial Akhmetov, member of the Board (Minister) for Energy Industry and Infrastructure of the Eurasian Economic Commission, told media that the concept for forming the common electric energy market is supposed to be submitted for approval of the heads of state of the three countries by 1 July 2015. The program to create the market is supposed to be ready by 1 January 2016. The formation of the market is to be completed in 2019. According to the Minister, the development of the draft concept took into account the experience of the common electricity markets that operate in Scandinavia, Central Europe and the USA. The European model has been chosen. The model takes into account national peculiarities of all the member states.

The potential of Customs Union and Single Economic Space countries in energy industry is rather high because the overall ratio of the utilization of energy installations is only 52% while barely 20% of the capacity of interstate lines is used at present. “It is generally acknowledged that electricity costs are part of the cost of any products and services. The creation of the common electricity market should become one of the key catalysts for the growth of the Eurasian Economic Union economies,” stressed Danial Akhmetov.

The concept for forming the common oil and natural gas markets is to be ready by 1 January 2016. The program to create those markets is to be ready by early 2018. “The implementation of the program is supposed to be completed by 2024. By 2015 we are supposed to sign the international treaty that will form the common markets of hydrocarbon resources. The methods to form indicative balances of energy resources of the Eurasian Economic Union member states will be the foundation. The Eurasian Economic Commission has presented the relevant draft document. In the near future it will be polished taking into account remarks and proposals of the Customs Union and the Single Economic Space member states,” said Danial Akhmetov.