Revision lifting PPA barriers for industry headed to Parliament

The energy ministry is seeking a bill already in Parliament to table  an amendment designed to lift barriers currently preventing the establishment of bilateral power purchase agreements (PPAs) between power producers and large-scale consumers.

The amendment’s details were finalized at a meeting earlier this involving the participation of officials representing the energy ministry, RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, the industrial sector and power utility PPC, sources informed.

Once the bill has been ratified, negotiations between PPC and energy-intensive industries for PPAs will be able to recommence after stalling as a result of the existing legal barriers.

“This intervention will ensure supply of competitively priced electricity [for energy-intensive industries]. Quantities will concern physical deliveries, while industries will be able to seek agreements with power producers for RES-generated electricity supply,” energy minister Kostas Skrekas was quoted as telling local business news publication Ikonomikos Tahidromos (OT) yesterday.

The amendment will primarily pave the way for PPC, the Greek electricity market’s dominant player, to sign PPAs with energy-intensive industries over long-term periods of between eight and ten years.

As has been previously reported, PPC is currently engaged in talks with the country’s two most energy-intensive industries, building materials producer TITAN and metal manufacturer Viohalco.