A demand by Greece’s lenders for an increase in the amount of electricity the main power utility PPC must offer to the market through the just-introduced NOME auctions appears to have prevailed in negotiations with Greek officials. However, it is believed that certain concessions have been provided to satisfy the Greek side.

The latest draft of the agreement, obtained by energypress, states that NOME auctions to be staged next year must include an amount representing 12 percent of consumption in 2016 as well as a repeat of an amount offered in 2016 (8 percent of consumption) at an auction to be held next September.

The Greek side seems to have gained the entry of RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, into the procedure determining the NOME auction electricity amounts, which will facilitate revisions should PPC’s market share contraction exceed targets set.

The NOME auctions, introduced in October, are intended to provide third parties with access to PPC’s low-cost lignite and hydropower sources as a measure to help break the utility’s market dominance.

The Greek side, according to the latest draft, also appears to have avoided a demand by lenders calling for a resetting of the NOME auction starting price as of January. This would have factored in the CO2 emissions allowance price for 2016 and prompted a lower starting price. The starting price will be revised annually, every June.

As for the ongoing sale of a stake in PPC’s subsidiary firm IPTO, the power grid operator, a revision made to the schedule will require PPC to sign an agreement with China’s SGCC, the strategic investor acquiring a 24 percent stake of IPTO, before the transaction is finalized.