Gas transmission capacity in the direction of Hungary at the Csanadpalota interconnection point on the Romanian-Hungarian border will be increased by almost 50 % as of 1 October.
The current capacity in the direction of Hungary is 50.3 GWh/day, but it will be increased to 73.4 GWh/day as of 1 October, following the amendments to the agreement signed between the two natural gas transmission system operators FGSZ and Transgaz.
Interest in capacity at the point has been extremely strong since the start of July, with flows towards Hungary averaging near full capacity at 48.9 GWh/day in the last month and a half. Last month’s capacity auctions for August were so competitive and went on for so long that they were eventually cancelled, and new rules were put in place for this month’s auctions for September capacity, which incorporated much larger price steps. Even so, these auctions are currently still ongoing on the RBP platform after several days.
There have been much stronger flows into Romania from Bulgaria since the start of July, which averaged 91 GWh/day between 1 July and mid-August, compared to 53 GWh/day in June. Some Romanian companies are known to be importing LNG from Greece, which is then either sent physically or backhauled at the Kulata- Sidirokastro point to Bulgaria, where it then delivers to Romania at Negru Voda.
