New regulation on liberalisation of Greek energy market
(Article by Mira Todorovic Symeonides – Partner and Dr. Maria Ioannou – Associate of Rokas Law Firm, published in the Energy & Natural Resources Newsletter of the ILO on January 27, 2020)
On 3 December 2019, Law 4643/2019 on the liberalisation of the Greek energy market, the
modernisation of the Public Power Corporation (PPC), the privatisation of the Public Natural Gas
Company (DEPA) and the support of the renewable energy sector (RES) was published in the Official
Journal (A’193/2019). The law introduces significant changes to the energy industry, particularly in
regard to the electricity market, the PPC, DEPA privatisation, the RES and energy efficiency.
Regarding the electricity market, the main amendments concern:
- the commencement of operations in the energy derivatives and intraday markets within the
Hellenic Energy Exchange (planned for 2020); - the implementation in Greece of EU Regulation 1227/2011 on Energy Market Integrity and
Transparency, which includes provisions on the competency of the Greek Regulatory Energy
Authority (RAE) to monitor the market and impose penalties for the violation of said
regulation, to be calculated according to a methodology to be developed by RAE; - the universal service obligation, which will from now on and in case of lack of other interested
parties, be provided not solely by the PPC but by the five suppliers with the largest market
shares during the preceding month (which includes the PPC having approximately 70% share
of the market); - the delays in electricity bill payments by municipality enterprises, which will now be
guaranteed and paid by the respective municipality; and - the reduction of the public service obligation on final consumers for electricity consumed
during the nighttime.
With regard to the RES market, the new law sets out that RES projects which do not wish to receive
state aid may participate directly in the electricity spot market and receive the respective market
prices for the electricity produced. Further, the new law sets out the possibility of different
remuneration for RES plants with a capacity exceeding 250MW or for conglomerates of RES plant
connected to the grid at the same connection point with a combined capacity exceeding 250MW.
For such plants, individually agreed prices may be approved by the Ministry of Environment and
Energy – without obligatory participation in the auction procedures – if the European Commission
has previously approved the respective state aid. The new law also sets out provisions on the
construction of solar photovoltaic plants on land of high agricultural productivity.
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