� ARTICLE / MAKALE trfrnüfıllrnMrn11ı w�ıırn Co eneration, Waste recoven 1 'Reııew�Gfes &: On-sirJ §pıeration Background GDF has stili a legal monopoly over natural gas import and export, and is active directly or through participation in transmission, storage and distribution. Transmission is carried out essentially (90%} by Gaz de France directly but 3 other companies operate the remaining share: SEAR, GSO and CFM (strongly supporting cogeneration). France is the only European State where the transport network belongs to the state. Therefore Gaz de France with Gaz du Sud-Ouest and to a very small extent SEAR, Societe Elf aquataine de Reseau are only concessionaires of the network. CFM (Compagnie Française du Methane) is involved through a specific contract with GDF. Regarding supply, Gaz de France supplies 96% of the customers, the remaining 4% being supplied by 17 non-nationalized distribution companies (Gaz de Bordeaux, Gaz de Strasbourg, ete). Distribution is undertaken jointly with EDF through 98 distribution areas. Distribution remained in the hands of the non-nationalized distributors and GDF until April 14, 2000 when they were given 3 years to serve new communities. lf they fail to do so, communities would be able to find another distributor (to be agreed by the Ministry of lndustry). The gas network is regularly expanding but even if two thirds of the population has access to gas, around 24 000 local communities stili do not have access to natura! gas. lnfrastructures in 1996 (source: Ministry of lndustry) Transmission (km) �ribution (km) GDF 21 658 134 525 CFM 6 352 -- GSO 3 930 SEAR 7 72 Non-nationalised Distributors 6 031 Total 32 012 140 556 The gas directive should be implemented in French Law by August 1 O, 2000 at the latest and shareholders consultation has begun through the publication ofa White Paper1. lssues for cogenerators it can be necessary to build a new or bigger pipe to reach the installation, improve the existing pipes, and instali a compressor. . . Ali these actions may require an administrative authorization or license entailing costs and delays (impact study. . .). Regarding technical requirements from the gas utility, according to some operators, transparency is also often missing e.g. the need for a compressor tor a cogeneration using a gas turbine. GDF usualiy guarantees only a minimum pressure of 20 bar, which is not sufficient for most gas turbines and therefore makes it necessary to buy a compressor. lf this can be a minor nuisance for big projects but it can simply kili a smali project. However, in general the pressure is over 30 bar (in one case, it was shown that pressure had not gone under 24 bar in 1 O years). Surprisingly, some cogenerators indicated that the utility seems to be worried about the fası development of cogeneration instaliations and the accompanying gas consumption on the network which would reduce pressure at critical times of the year. On the other hand, GDF is now strongly involved in the promotion of small cogeneration and has an official policy of promoting cogeneration: it launched a commercial offer on small-scale cogeneration ('modules') and is working on specific gas tariffs for small cogeneration2. However the price of gas is also viewed as an obstacle by some cogenerators. This might be addressed by a new specific tariff for small installations that had been announced at the beginning of 1999. A big concern is the potential use of the Article 18.2 of the Gas Directive by the French Government to limit availability of liberalised gas to smaller cogenerators. Declarations by French officials indicate that France is likely to implement a threshold. Article 18.2 of the EU Gas Directive Member States shali take the necessary measures to ensure that at least the following customers are designated as eligible customers: ■ Gas fireci power generators, irrespective of their annual consumption level; however, and in order to safeguard the balance of their electricity market, the Member States may introduce a threshold, which may not be exceed the level envisaged tor other final customers, for the eligibility of combined heat and power producers. Such thresholds shali be notified to the Commision; ■ Other final customers consuming more than 25 miliion cubic metres of gas per year on consumption site basis. EXPORT OF POWER TO THE GRID The most usual framework for exporting power to the grid and buying top-up or emergency supplies is the 'contrat d'achat' of 1997 or its replacement of 1999. An industry example: Rhodia Most cogenerations are outsourced in France but mainly two industrial groups prefer in house solutions: Pechiney and Rhone-Poulenc/Rhodia. Rhodia is the second largest gas consumer and the eighth E-COGENERATION WORLD & Renewoble Energy �
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