The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) is considering opening up the Victorian Declared Wholesale Gas Market (DWGM) to include distribution connected facilities that can supply natural gas, low-level hydrogen blended gas, biomethane and other renewable gases.
Currently, the Victorian DWGM only recognises transmission connected facilities and does not allow market participation from entities connected to distribution pipelines. The rule change request seeks to amend the rules to also recognise facilities connected at the distribution level.
It was proposed by the Victorian Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio and complements various decarbonisation initiatives of the Victorian Government, such as the Renewable Hydrogen Industry Development Plan, Gas Substitution Roadmap, Towards 2050: Gas Infrastructure in a Zero Emissions Economy initiative and Climate Change Strategy to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
A consultation paper released today explores how the proposed changes to the National Gas Rules (NGR) may affect:
- market operations including registrations, scheduling, and bidding
- market settlements including title, custody and risk, and allocations
- system operation and planning, including connections, metering, and gas quality.
The Victorian DWGM rule change complements the work of the AEMC’s broader concurrent national hydrogen and renewable gas review.
The national review will identify what amendments to the NGR and National Energy Retail Rules will be needed to include low-level hydrogen blends and renewable gases in the gas sector. These changes are being considered to support the Energy Ministers’ objective to develop the renewable gas industry and enable decarbonisation of the energy sector.
Submissions to both the Victorian DWGM consultation paper and the hydrogen and renewable gas review consultation paper are due by 2 December 2021.
Visit the Victorian DWGM project page for more information and contact details.