The number of households connecting to the gas grid has fallen by roughly 50 percent since mid-2021, many residential consumers now hesitant to make the switch as natural gas has lost its appeal amidst the energy crisis.

Consumer hesitation for new gas connections has been even more severe in the business category, where it has just about frozen.

Industrial consumers, too, have reduced their consumption levels of natural gas, turning, if technically possible, to alternative fuels such as diesel or LPG.

This overall downturn in the usage of natural gas is having a wider affect on the gas sector, impacting distribution network operators, gas companies as well as technicians specializing in the development and operation of gas-based facilities.

Even though supply of Russian gas to Greece has not been affected – Turk Stream, supplying the country via Turkey, has been operating continuously since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine – the possibility, alone, of a mandatory 15 percent reduction of gas usage should a heightened state of alert be triggered in Europe has led to reservations among businesses and residential consumers.

Natural gas prices have, for the time being, only remained competitive in Greece courtesy of generous subsidies offered to households by gas utility DEPA Commercial.