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Ofgem approved an agreement stopping gas import capacity on the Zeebrugge–Bacton pipeline falling to 16.5 GW. Cost: about £1.19 per gas customer a year for five years; consultation open to 20 Nov.
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Policy & Economics
National Gas Transmission gas pipework from the company's website. The image is a general file photo, not the Bacton terminal or the Zeebrugge–Bacton interconnector.
Image: National Gas
Source · Press image from the National Gas website, used for news reporting.
Ofgem, Britain's energy regulator, on 22 October approved a deal that keeps gas import capacity on the Zeebrugge–Bacton pipeline from Belgium at around 27.8 GW, rather than letting it fall to roughly 16.5 GW this month, according to Energy Live News.
The Ofgem-approved deal keeps capacity at around 27.8 GW instead of the planned fall to roughly 16.5 GW, Energy Live News reports.
Illustration (AI-generated)
The agreement is between Interconnector Limited, which operates the 235 km pipeline, and National Gas Transmission, and Ofgem approved it under Interconnector's licence. Interconnector had planned the deeper cut because of high operating and maintenance costs and weak commercial demand for flows into Britain. Capacity had already dropped from about 33.5 GW to 27.8 GW before that second reduction was due.
The instrument is a licence-approved interconnection agreement, now at the consultation stage for its funding. Ofgem is consulting on licence changes and financial instruments that would let National Gas recover the cost, and says approval of the agreement does not prejudge that outcome. The consultation is open until Friday 20 November 2026, after which Ofgem will take a final decision.
Ofgem estimates the bill impact at about £1.19 per gas customer per year for five years, under 10p a month. The charge would be collected through the gas General Non-Transmission Services charge, from gas consumers only, so customers without gas pay nothing. The figure is an Ofgem estimate, not an audited cost, and the regulator has not published a total in the material reviewed here.
This is insurance, not a supply purchase. Ofgem stresses that maintaining capability does not procure gas or guarantee that any will flow; it keeps an option open for traders if gas is available in Europe. Ofgem and National Gas describe it as a precaution against unlikely stress cases, such as losing a major source of supply during extreme cold, which the UK gas security framework tests at a 1-in-20 cold-weather chance.
The trigger is structural. Ofgem notes that domestic gas production is declining while some continental import infrastructure has reduced its capability, so spare import headroom has been shrinking. The regulator still says the system is secure and expected to meet demand under normal conditions.
Ofgem says the mechanism it is consulting on could also support a similar arrangement with other continental interconnectors, though any such deal would need its own assessment and approvals. Watch the 20 November consultation close and Ofgem's final licence decision; neither a date for that decision nor a total cost has been published in the sources reviewed.
Voltgrid News reported earlier on Ofgem's offshore transmission tender for Hornsea 3.
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