Fund shortage seen for industrial emission cost plan

The energy ministry expects funds needed to support a measure compensating major industrial enterprises for carbon emission costs incurred will fall short of required levels for 2016. At this stage, it remains unknown whether this is a deliberate action or one that has emerged unintentionally.

A draft law submitted to Parliament in late December before being withdrawn for revisions included an energy ministry amendment for the distribution of revenues accumulated through greenhouse emission right auctions. Considering the draft law’s details and last year’s standards, this draft law would lead to a shortage of roughly 11 million euros or 40 percent of total capacity.

It should be noted that this latest problem for the industrial sector comes at a time when Greece’s energy-intensive industry has already been burdened by the abolition of a 20 percent discount offered for industrial electricity tariffs. Also, new individual electricity supply contracts between PPC, the main power utility, and the country’s major industrial enterprises, expected to help offset the discount’s abolition, have yet to be signed. In addition, a “disruption management” plan, to enable energy cost savings for major-scale industry in exchange for shifting energy usage to off-peak hours whenever required by IPTO, the power grid operator, has yet to be implemented. It was recently published in the government gazette.