IPTO, the power grid operator, has proposed a revision to the “disruption management” measure, which, if implemented, will not permit industrial facilities to take part in auctions for capacities if they are not operating at the time of the auctions. Public consultation procedures for the revision were launched yesterday.

The “disruption management” measure, recently introduced to enable energy cost savings for major-scale industry in exchange for shifting energy usage to off-peak hours whenever required by the operator, did not fully meet the desired results at a recent first auction.

The IPTO proposal notes that auction participants should place bids based on maximum electricity amounts they expect to use during time periods covered by each auction. This essentially boils down to meaning that productions units which may be closed at the time of auctions will not be able to participate.

Demand at the first auction, held at the end of February, far outweighed two 500 MW amounts offered over two sessions, one for short-term agreements, the other for longer-term agreements.

Based on the proposed revision, a 56 MW capacity registered by steel company Hellenic Halyvourgia for its production facility in Aspropyrgos would be excluded from the auctions. So, too, would 71 MW linked to Halyvourgiki.