Greece’s Energy Ministry has backed the country’s Regulatory Authority for Energy, RAE, on its adoption of NOME-type auctions, a French approach for lower-cost electricity production. The ministry, in official correspondence forwarded to RAE, requested that the latter finalize plans to auction off lignite and hydroelectricity production controlled by PPC, the public power corporation, based on agreements between the Greek government, the European Commission, and the country’s creditors.

In official correspondence to RAE, Greece’s Deputy Energy Minister Makis Papageorgiou expressed his support for the energy authority’s initiatives, both for its position regarding the NOME model, and, on a wider level, its intention to eliminate electricity market irregularities. Reiterating the Energy Ministry’s commitment to the country’s agreements reached with its creditors, Papageorgiou, in the letter, gave RAE the green light to proceed based on a plan it has already presented and offered for public consultation. The plan includes auctions for PPC-controlled lignite and hydroelectricity production, rather than sales at specific prices. RAE’s finalized plan will need to be ratified as legislation. “Let’s start off by seeing that the model is implemented, and, should any weaknesses be detected, we can make corrections,” remarked an Energy Ministry official. “But we need to start as soon as possible.”