RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, has finalized the regulations to apply for the NOME auctions, according to energypress sources, paving the way for their launch within October.

Two details included in a proposal prepared by LAGIE, the Electricity Market Operator, for the public consultation procedure have been revised following European Commission objections, the same sources noted.

A proposal for a 35 percent quota on the amount of electricity offered through the auctions to high-voltage industrial consumers using over 13 GWh will be entirely scrapped, it has been decided, according to the energypress sources.

Initially, the lenders wanted to limit energy-intensive industrial enterprises interested in taking part in the auctions, indirectly, by obtaining electricity supply licenses to essentially cover their own energy needs, exclusively.

The lenders initially insisted that the NOME auctions should not be utilized to reduce industrial energy costs, but, rather, implemented as a means that could offer suppliers access to competitively priced fuels, lignite and hydropower in order to help them achieve lower prices and subsequent market share gains in the retail electricity market.

As for the other revision to the initial LAGIE proposal, an export limit originally imposed to avoid mass electricity exports by certain suppliers has been scrapped for all EU member states, sources said. Restrictions will apply for non-EU states.

The upcoming NOME auctions are intended to provide third parties with access to main power utility PPC’s low-cost lignite and hydropower sources as a measure to help break the utility’s market dominance.