The liberalization of Greece’s gas market promises to offer benefits to consumers, Leonidas Bakouras, deputy director of the EPA gas supply companies covering Thessaloniki and Thessalia, told an an energy conference in Athens today.

Commenting on the market penetration of natural gas in Thessaloniki, Bakouras – who delievered a speech at a conference organized by TEE, the Technical Chamber of Greece, titled “Energy Market: Unlocking Greece’s Economic Potential” – said 53 percent of the city is now using natural gas, while 85 industrial enterprises, 350 hospitals, and all of the northern city’schools are also connected to the gas network. Bakouras said new connections were being made at a rate of about 600 a month.

The cost of natural gas this year is 26 percent lower, on average, while price levels are continuing to fall, Bakouras said.

“The lower the price of natural gas imported by DEPA (Public Gas Corporation), the lower prices will be for consumers,” the EPA Thessaloniki and Thessalia official explained.