CREG: Commission for Electricity and Gas Regulation
Commission for Electricity and Gas Regulation

Highlights of the CREG 2022 Annual Report

On this page, you can find a summary of a number of important developments and salient facts from the CREG 2022 Annual Report.

The full PDF version of the annual report can be downloaded here.

Key national legislative developments

The most important developments in legislation regarding natural gas and electricity in Belgium in 2022 relate to:

  • The social tariff for electricity, natural gas and heat
  • The capacity remuneration mechanism and the strategic reserve
  • The advance invoice and the fixed fee paid to suppliers
  • The cap on market revenues from the electricity generators
  • Reduction of VAT and other assistance measures

The electricity market

  • Both total consumption and the load on Elia's transmission system decreased significantly in 2022 compared with previous years. Total demand fell by 3.2% to 81.7 TWh, while load fell by 9.7% to 64.0 TWh. Although these decreases were observed throughout the year, the largest decreases were recorded during the last three months of the year.
  • Total electricity production was 89.9 TWh, i.e. the second highest value in recent years (since 2015). The only year when more electricity was generated in Belgium was in 2021, when total production came to 93.4 TWh. The decrease from 2021 is mainly due to the reduction in nuclear generation, which was only partially offset by an increase in generation from gas-fired power stations and wind and solar power.
  • The average prices on the Belgian day-ahead market throughout the year were €244.5/MWh. This sharp rise occurred not only in Belgium, but also in neighbouring bidding zones. We can distinguish three high price peaks: early March, late August and early December. We also note that the overall level of price convergence between Belgium and its neighbours fell sharply compared to the preceding three years: there was full price convergence for only 35.4% of all hours.
  • Belgium's net export position decreased by 6.3 TWh in 2022 due to the balance of total exports (19.2 TWh) and imports (12.9 TWh). The vast majority of exported electricity went to France (10.7 TWh), while the largest import volumes came from the Netherlands (6.2 TWh). The structural exporting of electricity is a trend that has been confirmed year after year since 2019, albeit to varying degrees.
  • Launched in February 2017, the CREG Scan is intended for individuals, SMEs and self-employed persons with a maximum consumption of 50,000 kWh/year for electricity and/or 100,000 kWh/year for natural gas. The CREG offers consumers a unique and practical tool that enables them to compare their contract with what is currently available on the market in just six clicks of the mouse, even if their contract is one that is no longer offered to other customers (dormant contract). This comparison is not possible on other price comparison sites, which only show what is currently on offer. In 2022, the CREG Scan compared a total of 9,962 (active and dormant) products, while other price comparison websites only take into account the 299 active products on the market. Since 2022, the CREG Scan also includes products that reimburse electricity injected into the grid. This addition is intended for consumers with a digital meter and a decentralised generation system (e.g. solar panels).
  • The CREG continued to inform consumers, in particular about prices and price changes, in particular by monitoring the prices on the wholesale and retail markets, by means of the annual study on the evolution of the components of electricity and natural gas prices, by means of the study into the increase in electricity and gas prices in Belgium, by means of the study on the supply of large industrial customers in Belgium and the study on prices on the energy market for households and small professional consumers and by means of the figures on the evolution of energy prices in Belgium and in neighbouring countries, by means of the monthly publication of the items included in household bills, the monthly publication of the minimum price per green electricity certificate for production during the last 12 months by wind turbines in the North Sea, the quarterly publication of the market shares of electricity and natural gas suppliers in the three regions and the publication of articles about pricing on LinkedIn.
  • The CREG continued publishing infographics and monthly dashboard for electricity and natural gas on its website, to provide consumers with all the necessary information to make an informed choice.
  • Overall, electricity transmission tariffs fell by 1.1% in 2022 compared to 2021.

The natural gas market

  • In 2022, natural gas consumption was 161.3 TWh, which represents a significant decrease of 15.2% compared to 2021 (190.2 TWh). Much of this decrease (19.2 TWh) can be attributed to measures taken to reduce natural gas demand due to the sharp price increase; a smaller portion (9.6 TWh) can be attributed to lower heating needs due to the milder temperatures in 2022.
  • Unprecedented conditions on the international natural gas markets have led to a major realignment of natural gas supply routes, with natural gas from Russia (east) largely being replaced by natural gas from the west (LNG). This led to a significant change in cross-border natural gas flows for Belgium.
  • Average gas prices on the short-term markets more than doubled in 2022 on the three main gas hubs (TTF, ZTP and THE). The Belgian platform ZTP experienced a significant increase from an average of €46.9/MWh in 2021 to €101.9/MWh in 2022.
  • The CREG carried out a study on the prices in force on the Belgian natural gas market in which it analysed the market, price setting, price levels, price breakdown and billing in the different segments (import, resale, supply of residential customers, industrial customers and power stations).
  • The CREG continued to prioritise improving the functioning of the natural gas market, in order to protect the interests of consumers. These aspects are presented in the chapter Electricity.
  • In order to support consumers in the current context of high natural gas prices and in line with the agreement on the methodology for the years 2024-2027, Fluxys Belgium and the CREG have decided to reduce transmission tariffs by 10% from 1 July 2022.

The CREG

This chapter describes the functioning of the CREG and the close relations it maintains with other national and international bodies.

It also contains a list of the acts which the Board of Directors approved in 2022.