The number of new gas supply contracts has surged to unanticipated levels amid a widening field of players looking forward to the Greek gas market’s full liberalization as of January 1.

At EDA Attiki, distributing to the wider Athens area, new household supply contracts from the beginning of the year until last week, prior to the completion of a ten-month period, exceeded 18,800, up from 17,500 for the nine-month period. The market data suggests this gas supplier’s growth rate for new household contracts is increasing at a rate of 1,000 per month, meaning EDA Attiki’s latest target of 20,000 new contracts, following an upward revision, could be exceeded.

The 18,800 new household gas supply contracts established at EDA Attiki so far this year represent more than double last year’s amount and are 57 percent higher than the initial target set for the year. Quite impressively, 8,100, or 43 percent of these new supply contracts were established during the less active summer period, from June through August.

Likewise, the growth rate for new gas supply contracts established at EDA Thes, established to serve the wider Thessaloniki and Thessaly regions, has been just as robust. This supplier’s number of contracts exceeded 9,200 by early September, 3,350 of these established during the summer.

The first-half results at EDA Thess, announced prior to these latest figures, showed that the firm’s new gas supply connections grew to 5,837, up from 3,642 last year, a 60 percent increase. The total number of contracts grew to 300,587 from 285,992 last year.

Though, until recent years, higher heating fuel prices were the main driving force behind new household gas supply contracts, a legal framework revision enabling flat owners to break away from collective apartment block heating system agreements without the majority’s consent is the key factor behind the more recent household shifts from heating fuel to natural gas.

EDA Attiki estimates that it has amassed over 10,000 new gas supply contracts as a result of this legal revision.

A decision by market authorities to lift surcharge fees previously imposed on new gas supply connections, as well as the availability of subsidy programs, have also provided impetus to the shift.

Of course, the lower cost of natural gas compared to heating fuel has remained a factor. Data for early October showed natural gas is 37.5 percent cheaper than heating fuel, while its cost can reach as much as 50 percent less for household cooking and hot water needs.