The Government updates gas charges and storage remuneration

The Government has approved Royal Decree 924/2026, of October 28, which modifies the calculation methodologies for gas system charges, the regulated remuneration for basic underground storage, and the fees applied for its use. The regulation is published in the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado) no. 269, of October 29, 2026 (official reference BOE-A-2026-22613), and enters into force on the day of its publication. The text brings forward to October 1, 2026, the start of the third regulatory period, which was initially planned for January 1, 2027.

The legal authorization comes from article 3.1.e) and f) of Law 34/1998, of October 7, on the hydrocarbon sector, which empowers the Government to establish the methodology and amounts for storage remuneration and system charges. Article 60 of Law 18/2014, of October 15, establishes six-year regulatory periods; therefore, the conclusion of the 2021-2026 cycle necessitates a review of the parameters of Royal Decree 1184/2020, of December 29.

The change in schedule seeks to synchronize the methodology with the “gas year,” a period that begins on October 1 and is already used by the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) to calculate tolls and remunerations under its jurisdiction, in accordance with European regulations on capacity allocation and tariff harmonization. The Executive justifies the measure based on the simplification of the economic framework and the reduction of administrative burdens. The processing included a prior public consultation, a hearing between June 26 and July 9, 2026, a regulator’s report approved on July 21, 2026, and an opinion from the Council of State; the text passed through the Government’s Delegated Commission for Economic Affairs on October 26 and the Council of Ministers on October 27, upon the proposal of Sara Aagesen Muñoz, Third Vice President and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.

Specific Charges and Market Guarantees

The regulation allows, on an extraordinary basis, for unit charges to be established once the gas year has begun when unforeseen circumstances arise that require the urgent creation or modification of a charge, without the need to approve a new royal decree.

Furthermore, it creates specific unit charges that are not applied indiscriminately to all supply points, but only to the users who have originated the cost and in proportion to their contribution, in application of the causality principle. The reference case is the management of system guarantees attributed to the operator of the organized gas market by article 21.3.f) of Royal Decree 984/2015.

The change is in response to Order TED/1210/2025, of October 28, which sets September 30, 2027, as the end date for the transitional remuneration of the organized market operation, such that from then on, this remuneration will be limited to covering guarantee management costs.

Incentives for highly amortized storage

In the field of underground storage, the Incentive for the efficient acquisition of supplies for operation and maintenance is incorporated. Each holder shall accrue, per gas year, 50% of the positive difference between the average of the audited costs of the previous three years and the admitted cost of the fiscal year, both unitized by the technical magnitude of the supply.

Likewise, 90% of the costs of acquiring greenhouse gas emission rights are recognized within the operation and maintenance costs, effective from January 1, 2021, until September 30, 2026, according to the second transitional provision.

The new Incentive for Reliability and Asset Valuation (IFVA) is aimed at holders whose net investment value is less than 25% of the recognized value, and results from multiplying the value of the facilities that have exhausted their regulatory useful life by the financial remuneration rate and by a coefficient of 0.1. To receive it, the facility must remain operational throughout the regulatory period.

Simplification of costs and 2027 calendar

• The distinction between activated operation and maintenance costs with budgets above and below 250,000 euros is eliminated.
• The mandatory audit is replaced by access for the General Directorate of Energy Policy and Mines to the data of the regulatory cost system of the National Commission on Markets and Competition.
• Remuneration for productivity improvements cannot be negative, a condition that extends to the 2021-2026 period.
• Storage access fees maintain their current structure and methodology.
• The fifth additional provision of Order TED/1023/2021, of September 27, is repealed.

The fifth transitional provision allows for the exceptional approval of charges, remunerations, and fees for the 2027 gas year after its start: remunerations will take effect from the first day of the gas year, and charges and fees will be applied from the first day of the month following their publication.

The revision arrives with the gas system in a scenario of high asset amortization and scarce investment in new facilities. The new framework affects the bills of households and industry through unit charges, but above all, it redefines the regulated income of storage holders, who face a remunerative model based on incentives rather than the volume of recognized investment.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 269, October 29, 2026, Sec. I. General provisions, page 144393 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-22613).