ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(73)2245
Vol.1973/0411

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(73)2245 final
. Brussels ,9January 1974
PROPOSAL FOR A
•COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
obliging theMember States oftheESCto
maintain minimum stocks offuel
(submitted totheCouncil bytheCommission )
COM(73)2245 final

XVIl/269/1/73-E
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Thenecessity ofmaintaining stocks offuel atthermal power stations
Aregular andadequate supply ofelectricity isafundamental condition
for the existence anddevelopment ofmodern society .Any interruption
ofsupplies tothethree main sectors ofconsumption ,i.e. industry ,
transport andhouseholds ,would cause severe disruptions inthis society 's
vital activities .Ifthis were tohappen ,notonly would direct consumers
ofelectricity beaffected ,butawhole category ofusers forwhom the
utilization ofother sources ofenergy isintimately bound upwith the
availability ofelectricity .
Itistherefore necessary toensure thecontinuity ofelectricity supplies
Inorder toguarantee theavailability ofelectricity ,itmust bepofesibla
produce itasandwhen theneed arises ,since itisnotpossible tostore
electrical )energy assuch .Ifallpower stations aretobekept
operating uninterruptedly ,.itisessential that sufficient quantities of
primary energy beavailable (hydraulic andgeothermal reserves ,cor.l ,
lignite ,manufactured gases ,natural gas ,petroleum products andfissile
materials ). Certain types ofpower station could bepermanently supplied
with primary energy because they areconnected directly tosuch sources ,
but most power stations arenot insuch aposition andhave tobuild up
fuel stocks .
When there arenonational regulations ,the stocks held canvary consider­
ably according tothetechnical andeconomic factors involved andthe
security ofsupply .Within theframework ofaCommunity energy policy ,
andinview oftheimportance ofelectricity inthis policy ,there isan
evident need tointroduce asystem ofmaintaining fuel stocks atpower
stations inaccordance with common criteria .

-z- XVI1/269/1/73-E
Thestocksofprimaryenergyshouldbemaintainedinsuchawayasto
ensurethecontinuityofelectricity outputandtoenabletheoperators
tohaveimmediateaccesstoit.Thatis,thestocksshouldasarulebe
heldinsituatthepowerstation.Apartfromthesafetyaspect,this
wouldhavetheadvantageofrelievingaconsiderable partoftheburden
ontransportshouldasupplycrisisoccur.Thisisclearlydemonstrated
when'oneconsidersthatin1972,forexample,intheenlargedCommunity,
35-3%ofalltheheavyfueloiland38%ofallthecoalwasaccounted
forbythepowerstations.
.Effectsofthestructureofprimaryenergysuppliesonelectricity
generationintheCommunity
Waterpower,geothermalenergyandmanufactured gasesareusedassources
ofenergybypowerstationsneartheplacesofproductionorextraction,
andarethereforeapermanentsourceofsupply,sothatinthesecases
stocksneednotbekeptinreserve.
Lignitecanbeaddedtothislistofprimaryenergysources,sincefor
technicalandeconomicreasonstherecanbenoquestionofstoringit.
Forthesereasons,storageshouldbeconfinedtopetroleumproducts,coal,
fissilematerialsandnaturalgas.
Naturalgasisnotstoredatpowerstations,sincestorage,whetherin
gaseousorinliquidform,wouldinvolveagreatdealofcapitalexpenditure .
Moreover,thisfuel,whenderivedfromdepositsinCommunityterritory,is
carriedexclusivelyinpipelines ^itstransportisthusrelativelysafe.
Inviewofstoragedifficulties andthepermanentlink-upbetweentheplace
ofproductionandtheplaceofconsumption ,naturalgasdepositsthemselves
canbeconsideredaspartofthepowerstations'stocks,providedthatthe
deliveryofsufficientquantitiescanbeguaranteed .
73milliontonnes
2106milliontce

-3- X7II/269/1/73-E
Bytheirverynature,nuclearpowerstationsgenerallyhavesufficient
stocksoffueltocoverperiodsmuchlongerthanthoseenvisaged
(seepoint3)«
Stockpiling measureswouldthuschieflyconcernpetroleumproductsand
coal.
3.Quantitiesoffueltobestockpiledatthermalpowerstations
Thequantitiesoffuelstockpiledatpowerstationsmustbesufficientto,
withstandasupplycrisis,particularly intheoilsector.Inthe
determination ofthesequantities,acompromisemustbefoundbetween
safetyconsiderations andtheeconomically acceptablecostoftheoperation.
Inthiscontextcertaintechnicalproblemsandenvironmental questions
mustalsobetakenintoaccount.
Giventheseconditions ,thereservesoffuelheldbjelectricity producers
mustbesufficienttomaintainelectricitysuppliesforaperiodof50days.
Ifthesereservesseemrathersmalltocopewithapossibleinterruption
ofoilsupplies,theyshouldnevertheless beadequatehavingregardtothe
obligationonoilimporterstoholdthreemonths'stocks(CouncilDirective
ofI9.i2.i972).
4.Placewherestocksshouldbekept
Asageneralrule,stocksshouldbeheldinsituatpowerstations.If
ageneratingundertaking hasanumberofpowerstations,itcandecidehow
todistributestocksamongtheindividualstationsaslongassuppliesof
electricity canbeguaranteedfortheperiodenvisagedinpoint}>.The
evening-upofstocksasbetweenpowerstationsbelongingtodifferent
undertakings canbeconsidered.

τ4-
ΡXVI1/269/1/73-E
5.Categoriesofutilitiesaffectedbythesestockpiling arrangements
EightypercentoftheenlargedCommunity'selectricalenergyneedsare
metbypublicutilities,andtherestbyprivateindustrialgenerators.
Thepublicutilitiessupplythreesectorsofconsumption :industry,
transportandhouseholds,industrialplantssupplyelectricityeither
entirelyorpartiallyfortheirownneeds,althoughtheyaregenerally
connectedtothepublicgrid,withwhichtheymaintainexchanges.
Becauseofthecloseinterconnection ofpublicandprivatesystems,the
importancefromthepublicpointofviewofmaintainingsuppliesoffuel
totheprivateplants,andtheeffectswhichafailureofthesesupplies
couldhaveonthedemandsmadeonthepublicutilities,ithasproved
necessarytoincludebothcategoriesintheprojectedsystemofstorage.
6.Application andsupervision ofthestockpiling arrangements
Stocksshouldbebuiltupasquicklyaspossible,andatthelatestby
1January1976.Toensuretheapplicationofthismeasure,theMember
Statesshouldinstituteasystemofsupervision .Forfacilityof
implementation ,thesystemofregularsupervisioncouldberestrictedto
thosepowerstationswithaninstalledcapacityofatleast100MW.Where
stocksweretransferredforevening-out purposesbetweenthepowerstations
ofoneormoreproducers,thelatterwouldhavetoprovethattheycould
I
achievethetargetshowninpoint3«
•»jl(»•

XVI1/269/1/73-E
PROPOSAL FORACOUNCILDIRECTIVE
obligingtheMemberStatesoftheEECto
maintainminimumstocksoffuel
THECOUNCIL CSPTEEEUROPEANCOMMUNITIES ,
/HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishing theEuropeanEconomicCommunity,
andinparticularArticle103thereof|
HavingregardtotheproposalfromtheCommission !
HavingregardtotheOpinionoftheEuropeanParliament;
HavingregardtotheOpinionoftheEconomicandSocialCommittee 5
Whereastheimplementation ofacommonenergypolicyisoneoftheobjectives
thattheCommunities havesetthemselves,.andwhereasitistheresponsibility
oftheCommissiontoproposethenecessarymeasures;
Whereasaregularandadequatesupplyofelectricityisafundamental
conditionfortheexistenceanddevelopmentofmodernsociety,andthatany
interruption ofelectricity supplieswouldcauseseriousdisruptions inthe
vitalactivitiesoftheCommunity;
Whereasinordertoguaranteetheavailability ofsuchsupplies,itmustbe
possibletoproduceelectricityasandwhenthedemandarises;
Whereasthefundamentalconditionforthecontinuousoperationofpower
stationsisthepossessionofsufficientquantitiesofprimaryenergy;
Whereascrisesofsupplymayoccurunexpectedly inthecaseofcertaintypes
ofprimaryenergyanditisthereforeessentialtotakethenecessary
measurestoalleviatetheeffectsofsuchshortages;

-2- XVI1/269/1/73-E
Whereasitisnecessarytoreinforcesecurityofsupplytopowerstationsby
establishing andmaintaining minimumstocksoffuelthereats
i
BASADOPTEDTHISDIRECTIVE:
Article1
TheMemberStatesshalltakeallappropriatemeasuresbywayoflav;,.
regulationoradministrative actiontoobligeelectricityproducersto
maintainminimumlevelofstocksoffuelattheirthermalpowerstations,
whichlevelshallbesufficienttoensureforeseeableelectricitysupplies
foraperiodof50days.
Article2
Thisobligationtomaintainstocksshallapplytobothpublicgenerating
stationsandprivateindustrialgenerators .
Thisobligationdoesnotapplytoelectricalpowerstationsfiredby
manufactured gases,orbyindustrialorotherwaste.
Stocksshallbeheldinsituatthepowerstation,orataplacedirectly
linkedthereto.Theuseofpublichighwaysandpublicmeansoftransportfor
connectingthepowerstationwiththeplaceofstorageshallnotbetaken
intoaccount.
Inthecaseofpowerstationsfiredbynaturalgasorlignite,thedeposit
fromwhichthestationissuppliedmaybeconsideredasitsownstocks,'
providedthereisaguaranteethatsufficientquantitieswillbedelivered
toensureforeseeableelectricitysuppliesaslaiddowninArticlelteven
intheeventofdifficulties inmaintainingfuelsuppliestopowerstations.

(-3- XVI1/269/1/73-E
4.Thequantitiesoffueltobeheldateachthermalpowerstationshallbe
determinedbytheelectricityproducersinthelightofthepossibilities
offeredbythetransportandinterconnection network.
Theelectricityproducersmayformthemselvesintogroupsinorderto
apportionfuelstocksamongtheirpowerstations,providedtheycanguarantee
thecontinuityofforeseeableelectricitysuppliesaslaiddowninArticle1.
/
Article3
1.Onlypowerstationswithaninstalledcapacityofatleast100mshallbe
subjecttoregularsupervisionofstocks.
2.TheMemberStatesshallcommunicatetotheCommission on1Apriland1October
ofeachyearastatementofthestocksheldatthepowerstations,speoifying
thestocksnecessaiyto ensurecontinuityofforeseeableelectricitysupplies
■aslaiddowninArticle1.Suchcommunications shallbemadenotlaterthan
1Juneand1Decemberofeachyear.
3-InordertoenabletheCommissiontoassessthesupplysituation,theMember
Statesshall,inaccordancewithprocedureslaiddownbytheCommission,make
thecommunications providedforinparagraph2withinshortertime-limits or
inrespectofdifferentperiods.
Article4
Ifdifficultiesariseasregardsthesupplyingoffueltothermalpowerstations,
theCommissionshallattherequestofaMemberStateoronitsowninitiative,
arrangeconsultations betweentheMemberStates.
Saveincasesofspecialurgencyorofsatisfyingsmalllocalneeds,the
MemberStatesshallrefrain,beforetheconsultations providedforabovetake
place,fromdrawingoristockstosuchanextentastoreducethembelowthe
compulsory minimum.

-4- XVIl/269/1/73-E
TheMember States shall inform theCommission ofalldrawings onstocks ,
and shall notify assoon aspossible :
a)thedate onwhich thestocks fell bolowthecompulsory minimum }
b)thereasons forsuch drawings j
o)anymeasures taken tobuild upstocks again ;
\
d)ifpossible ,theprobable trend ofstocle during theperiod inwhich
they will bebelow thecompulsory minimum ?
Article 5
Stocks shall bebuilt upassoon as .possible after thedate ofthe
notification ofthis Directive ,inaccordance with theprovisions ofthis
Directive ,andatthelatest on1January 191& .TheMember States shall
inform the Commission ofthe meaBures taken tothis end .
Article 6
This Directive isaddressed tothe Member States .
Done atBrussels ,
For the Council
The President