# Ofgem backs agreement to preserve gas import capability through Belgium link

> Ofgem approved a National Gas agreement to prevent a further planned reduction in import capability and opened a consultation on how its costs could be recovered.

- Topic: Policy and regulation
- Subjects: Natural gas, Official statistics
- Event date: 2026-10-22
- First published on EPC Feed: 2026-10-25T20:55:46.165Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T20:55:46.165Z
- Countries: United Kingdom
- Page: https://epcfeed.com/news/ofgem-maintains-gb-belgium-gas-import-capability


## Key facts

- Consultation closes: 20 November 2026
- Estimated customer cost: Less than £0.10 per month for five years

Ofgem on 22 October approved an agreement between Interconnector Limited and National Gas Transmission to maintain gas import capability through the Great Britain–Belgium interconnector. The regulator also opened consultation on proposed licence changes and financial arrangements that would allow National Gas to recover costs associated with preserving that capability. The decision keeps an import option available; it does not buy gas or guarantee that gas will flow.

The regulator described the arrangement against a backdrop of shrinking import capability on Great Britain’s continental interconnectors. Ofgem said the decline reflects both weaker commercial incentives to bring gas from Europe and technical reductions in capacity. The interconnectors connect Britain with Belgium and the Netherlands and can move gas in either direction according to market conditions. Ofgem said they are used only occasionally to import gas, but can provide flexibility during periods of particularly high demand, including severe winter weather.

National Gas had facilitated an agreement with Interconnector to prevent a further planned reduction in capability over coming winters. Ofgem approved that agreement under Interconnector Limited’s licence. The separate consultation concerns how the arrangement should be funded through a regulatory mechanism. The approval of the agreement does not settle the consultation or predetermine Ofgem’s later decision on the proposed licence modification.

The resilience rationale is framed around rare stress scenarios rather than ordinary supply conditions. The UK gas security framework considers whether infrastructure could maintain adequate supply capability if a major source were lost at the same time as a one-in-twenty chance of extreme cold weather. Ofgem said retaining interconnector capability adds to the system’s response options in those circumstances. It also emphasized that the proposed measure is precautionary: the gas system continues to operate reliably and is expected to meet demand under normal conditions.

Ofgem estimated the expected cost at less than 10 pence per month for each domestic gas customer over five years, or about £1.19 per customer per year. The charge would apply to gas customers through the gas General Non-Transmission Services charge; customers who do not use gas would not be affected. In return, consumers would retain access to infrastructure that may allow additional flows when gas is available and demand is particularly high. The consultation was open until 20 November 2026.

The consultation also leaves room for the regulatory mechanism to support a possible arrangement involving other continental interconnectors, but Ofgem said any such arrangement would need separate assessment and the relevant contractual and regulatory approvals. The release therefore describes a bounded preservation measure on the Belgium connection, with possible flexibility for other links left conditional. It does not promise expanded capacity, new pipeline construction, or any change to the UK’s physical gas supply volumes.

The formal consultation page makes the regulatory sequence explicit: Ofgem has permitted National Gas to make agreements with one or both continental links and separately approved the arrangement with Interconnector Limited, but the licence changes needed for consumer cost recovery remain under consultation. The open consultation does not itself approve the recovery mechanism. That division between the operational agreement and regulatory financing explains why the October announcement combines an approval with a request for responses. The physical measure is to maintain import capability already present on the Belgium connection; it does not create new pipeline capacity or guarantee that gas will be available.

## Sources

1. [Ofgem consults on proposals to reinforce gas import capability](https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/press-release/ofgem-consults-proposals-reinforce-gas-import-capability). Government source, Ofgem, Published 2026-10-22, Read 2026-10-25.
2. [Gas interconnector import capability: proposed modifications to National Gas Transmission’s licence](https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consultation/gas-interconnector-import-capability-proposed-modifications-national-gas-transmissions-licence). Government source, Ofgem, Published 2026-10-22, Read 2026-10-25.