DESFA, suppliers take step towards gas market’s liberalization

DEFSA, the Natural Gas Transmission System Operator, signed an agreement today with the country’s three existing gas supply companies (EPA) in the wider Athens area, Thessaloniki, and Thessalia, in the mid-northeast, for consulting services concerning the financial and legal separation of distribution networks from gas trading activities.

The agreement was signed by Environment, Energy & Climate Change Deputy Minister Makis Papageorgiou, who recently oversaw a draft bill for the retail natural gas market’s liberalization.

Today’s agreement offers DESFA’s support to the regional EPA companies for procedures involving the drafting of the distribution network’s operational regulations, which will stand as an most important text for ensuing gas market legislation, as it will determine regulations concerning access to the natural gas distribution networks.

DESFA will also contribute to the formulation of a pricing policy for use of the distribution network, as well as to the preparation of EPA’s proposal to RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, for approval of the pricing policy. As part of the agreement, DESFA will also offer consulting services for legal, functional and logistic matters to sector companies.