Electricity suppliers are expected to face NOME auction restrictions limiting electricity amounts they may acquire in accordance with the size of their domestic client bases as of the next auction, to be staged October 25 following a one-week postponement, RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, appears to have decided.

Also, suppliers will need to have made available at least 30 percent of electricity amounts purchased at previous auctions to consumers in Greece in order to be eligible for participation at the upcoming NOME auction, this year’s final session offering a total of 718 MWh/h, well over an initial level of 246 MW/h, energypress sources have informed.

Previous reports had suggested RAE was looking to impose an 80 percent demand on suppliers who, otherwise, would be excluded from ensuing NOME auctions, which makes the latest plan milder by comparison.

Some traders have acquired supply licenses to export NOME-acquired electricity amounts to foreign markets offering higher prices.

RAE’s restrictive measures should limit the NOME exclusion of traders – with supply licenses – to those who have not developed client bases in Greece but instead exported all auction-cquired electricity amounts. All electricity suppliers, regardless of the extent of their Greek electricity retail market activity, should be able to take part in the next NOME auction.

As for the restrictive measures to apply beyond the upcoming October 25 auction, suppliers active for over a year will need to have provided at least 50 percent of electricity amounts purchased at previous NOME auctions to the Greek market to be eligible for participation at sessions in the first half of 2018. This condition’s percentage figure is expected to be increased to 70 percent in the second half of the year.

It is believed that newer suppliers who have yet to clock up a year of retail activity will face a 30-percent quota in both the first and second halves of 2018.

This condition should provide needed support to electricity market newcomers, including gas suppliers now also entering the retail electricity market.

NOME auctions were introduced around a year ago to offer independent suppliers access to the main power utility PPC’s lower-cost lignite and hydropower sources.