Domestic electricity consumption has continued its slide of recent years, falling by 1.2 percent in 2018, to 57,122 GWh from 57,845 GWh in 2017, a reflection of the ongoing struggles of households and businesses, market data released by the main power utility PPC has shown.

Overall electricity demand in Greece rose by 2.2 percent in 2018 as a result of a 75.2 percent increase in electricity exports to other European markets through northern interconnections.

The increased electricity exports were primarily attributed to exports of some of the electricity amounts acquired at local NOME auctions. This gateway to other markets has been significantly narrowed as a result of restrictions imposed by RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy.

Electricity imports in 2018 also rose, increasing by 23.6 percent, or 2,143 GWh. PPC imported 506 GWh of this amount.

As for retail electricity market shares, PPC’s share fell from 86.7 percent in 2017 to 81.9 percent in 2018. Independent suppliers made their greatest gains in the low-voltage category.