IPTO, the power grid operator, has accepted a request made by EVIKEN, the Association of Industrial Energy Consumers, to include smaller industrial enterprises consuming up to 3 MW into the “disruption management” plan.

The “disruption management” plan enables energy cost savings for major-scale industry in exchange for shifting energy usage to off-peak hours whenever required by the operator.

The operator has announced that, as of the next “disruption management” auction, offering capacities to participants, the minimum electricity consumption level, as a requirement per participant, will be lowered from 5 MW to 3 MW.

This revision will open up the “disruption management” auction process to smaller industrial units such as the Pako and Konotini papermills, as well as energy-intensive production facilities consuming smaller amounts of electricity. It is estimated that industrial enterprises with a combined total consumption level of between 17 to 20 MW will be drawn, meaning that no drastic changes to the overall scene can be expected.

At the previous auction, held last week, the main power utility PPC submitted low offers which subsequently flattened the session’s price levels, prompting criticism from market officials.

A total of 15 offers by participants seeking a total capacity of 137 MW were excluded from the auction’s longer-term agreements category, while 34 bids seeking a total capacity of 175.1 MW did not make the cut for the short-term agreements category.