The energy market faces an extended period of fluctuating electricity prices and adverse market conditions that will require ongoing subsidy support for consumers over the next decade, government officials have noted.

The finance and energy ministries are working together on the establishment of a subsidy-support mechanism as electricity-bill aid for vulnerable households and, possibly, enterprises, until 2030.

Officials from these ministries attributed the precarious situation to delayed RES penetration and a lack of energy storage development in previous years, noting, as an example, the delayed underground natural gas storage facility (UGS) at the almost depleted natural gas field of “South Kavala” in the Aegean Sea’s north, whose utilization would subdue energy price increases.

The acceleration in the installation of RES units and energy storage systems has become a leading priority for the government.