Estonia

EU headed for new impasse on gas price cap agreement

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The EU’s energy ministers appear headed towards another deadlock for a gas price cap agreement at an upcoming council meeting on December 13, which will prove a disappointment for Europeans as prices surge again.

Several EU member states seem to be resisting any sort of compromise for the establishment of a gas price cap level ahead of next week’s meeting of energy ministers, a measure now more urgent than ever before as winter temperatures begin to fall.

Gas prices surged yesterday at the Dutch energy exchange, a European benchmark, reaching 160 euros per MWh before easing to 140 euros per MWh and ending the day at 138 euros per MWh.

Though the prospect of high-priced natural gas is alarming, a price cap agreement does not appear to be a priority for a group of EU member states, led by Germany. Berlin, according to sources, wants the issue deferred until a summit of EU leaders, scheduled for next Thursday, two days after the meeting of EU energy ministers.

This, of course, would be a setback as it was at the previous summit, in October, that EU leaders referred the issue to the Energy Council, asking its members to work on details of an agreement reached by the 27 EU leaders.

Germany, joined by the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Estonia and Luxembourg, appears to be insisting on gas price cap at the level initially proposed by the European Commission, 275 euros per MWh, well above the 220-euro proposal forwarded by the Czech Republic, currently holding the EU’s rotating presidency.

Wholesale power up 238% in second quarter, EU’s second-highest rise

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Greece’s wholesale electricity price registered Europe’s second-biggest annual increase in the second quarter of 2022, compared to the equivalent period a year earlier, soaring 238 percent, a new report published by the European Commission has shown.

France topped the list with a 254-percent increase over the same period, while Italy was ranked third-highest, its wholesale electricity price rising 234 percent between the second quarters of 2021 and 2022.

Greece’s 238-percent increase resulted in the country having the third-highest wholesale electricity price in the EU in the second quarter this year, at 237 euros per MWh, behind Malta, at 252 euros per MWh, and Italy, at 249 euros per MWh.

Elsewhere in the EU, Bulgaria’s wholesale electricity price in the second quarter this year was 199.9 euros per MWh, France registered 226.3 euros per MWh, and Germany was at 187.1 euros per MWh, the report showed.

As for industrial energy prices, without taxes, Greece topped the list in the second quarter. Electricity prices for mid-size industrial consumers rose by 194 percent in Greece between the second quarters of 2021 and 2022, to 34.5 cents per KWh, the highest in the EU.

In the household category, Greece’s electricity prices, including taxes and fees, were ranked 10th in the EU, at 30.46 euros per KW/h, above the EU average of 28.62 euros per KW/h, following the second-biggest annual increase, 81 percent, exceeded only by Estonia.

Subsidies were not taken into account for this report. During the energy crisis, Greece has so far offered the highest amount of subsidies as a percentage of GDP.

 

Greece climbs up to 12th place in EU electricity tariff cost rankings

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Greece has climbed seven places, to 12th from 19th, in the EU rankings for retail electricity cost, pushed higher by a government decision reached last year to increase tariffs at state-owned power utility PPC, according to latest Eurostat data.

These tariff hikes at PPC were imposed by the government in August, 2019 to protect the utility from falling into bankruptcy.

The EU rankings concern electricity price levels for household consumption levels between 2,500 to 5,000 kWh, annually.

Electricity tariff increases for households in Greece rose by an average of 8.6 percent in the first half of 2020, compared to the previous half, when the country was ranked 19th.

The first-half tariff price for households averaged € 0.129 per KWh, not including taxes and surcharges, up from €0.1189 per KWh in the second half of 2019.

PPC remains Greece’s dominant supplier, representing 63 percent of electricity consumption.

The PPC tariff increase has made electricity more expensive in Greece than in countries with higher income per capita levels. Electricity is now more expensive in Greece than in France (€ 0.1247 per KWh), Finland (€ 0.1178 per KWh), Spain (€ 0.1178 per KWh) and Sweden (€ 0.1130 per KWh), all with higher income levels. Electricity is also more expensive in Greece than in Portugal (€0.1139 per KWh).

Despite the country’s rankings rise, electricity prices in Greece remain below the EU average (€0.1327 per MWh), a result of the competition generated by independent suppliers, subduing prices.

The biggest electricity tariff decreases in the first half of 2020, compared to the previous six-month period, were recorded by the Netherlands (-31%), Latvia (-12.8%), Slovenia (-11.4%), Sweden (-10%) and Estonia (-8.9%), the Eurostat data showed.