The country’s lenders are pushing for a more prominent role of hydropower sources in the NOME auctions – whose terms are set to be revised – but, on the other hand, the institutions seem willing to accept an overall reduction of electricity amounts offered to traders at the auctions, according to energypress sources.

Greek government officials and the lenders have already agreed to revise electricity amounts offered at the NOME auctions once the main power utility PPC’s bailout-required disinvestment of lignite units has been completed.

According to third-review bailout terms, the negotiating sides will need to assess the results of NOME auctions in the first year. Evidently, the conclusions will highlight a need for further action.

Introduced in late 2016 to offer independent traders access to PPC lower-cost lignite and hydrocarbon sources, the NOME auctions have yet to make impact of any considerable magnitude on the market. PPC remains the dominant retail electricity market player with a market share of approximately 85 percent.

Government officials are determined to keep the hydropower front out of the negotiations.

However, energy ministry officials and the lenders appear to agree that a new NOME framework, to be built from scratch, is needed.

The two sides have been locked in continual negotiations over the past few weeks, seeking to resolve pending energy-sector issues. Besides seeking to reshape the NOME auctions, the officials are also working on replacing a RES-supporting supplier surcharge with a new model, as of 2019. The future role of DEPA, the public gas corporation, in Greece’s natural gas market is another major pending issue.