Industry in Greece faces 5% energy cut Dec-Mar

Government officials are busy working out the plan for reducing energy consumption by 5%, which is to become mandatory for industries from December 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023.

The first draft, presented last week by the Energy Ministry and Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMIE) to representatives of industrial companies, and seen by Kathimerini, has already provoked a reaction from industries, as they are asked to shoulder the burden and suffer the consequences on production reduction, employment and their competitiveness in the international market.

The difficulty starts from the fact that Greece is not able to measure in real time the consumption of households and businesses connected to the low-voltage network, which is also the largest piece of the pie with a share of 65% of total demand. Minister Kostas Skrekas admitted that household energy savings cannot be individually measured because smart meters have not yet been installed; he therefore presented on Thursday as a matter of course that the 5% mandatory saving will be borne by industry.

Based on historical data from the period 2017 to 2022, ADMIE has determined that the peak hours of the system are between 6 and 9 p.m. The confidential plan it has drawn up envisages a mandatory reduction in consumption every day from December 1 until March 31 by around 300 megawatts per hour for that three-hour period (6-9 p.m.) compared to the operator’s estimates for that period. In total, 104,545 MWh should be saved in the four months, an amount corresponding to the four-month consumption of one large industrial company.

The energy-intensive industry association EBIKEN expressed its significant reservations about the non-participation of medium-voltage energy-intensive industries in the auctions and instead only the participation of heavy industries in a letter to the minister. The Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) is also set to send a similar letter to the minister, according to information.