Energy Minister Panos Skourletis, who was appointed following the Syriza-led coalition’s re-election last September, was ranked the government’s sixth most popular minister by a sample of the electorate and second most popular minister by Syriza-party backers, the results of a new poll conducted by local research company MRB have shown.

On the contrary, the energy minister’s deputy, Yiannis Tsironis, fared poorly to rank close to the bottom, both among the electorate’s sample and voters who picked the Syriza party at last September’s elections.

Interestingly, finance minister Euclid Tsakalotos, who holds one of the government’s toughest portfolios amid the recession, ranked as the most popular minister, both among electrorate representatives and Syriza supporters.

The energy ministry’s Secretary General Apostolos Alexopoulos resigned from his post last Friday for reasons that currently remain unknown, energypress sources have informed.

It is suspected Alexopoulos’s departure may be linked to his diminished role in major energy ministry issues following the re-election of Panos Skourletis at the ministry’s helm.

Alexopoulos, a former Syriza MP, had assumed the energy ministry’s secretary general post immediately following the party’s first election victory, last January.

He served under the then-energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, a radical leftist who eventually quit Syriza to form his own anti-eurozone party, Popular Unity, ahead of last month’s snap elections. It failed to reach the three percent electoral threshold in order to be represented in Parliament.

Panayiotis Lafazanis, part of the newly elected Syriza-led government’s firmer left wing, or Left Platform, has been touted as the likeliest choice to head a new enlarged ministry to incorporate the energy sector, according to latest information.

The new “super” ministry’s role of deputy minister, expected to take on environmental affairs, and, possibly, energy as well, is being tipped to bring in Yiannis Tsironis of the Democtratic Left (DIMAR) – Greens cooperation, members of which were added to the coalition government earlier today in a surprise move by new prime minister Alexis Tsipras.

 

Syriza, the main opposition, left-wing party that has radically opposed the government across the board and is ahead in polls, is making final adjustments to its energy policy. However, although now less than two weeks away from the snap elections, the party’s energy agenda still lacks specifics and priorities. Syriza officials have assured that the party’s energy agenda will acquire further detail over the next few days.

In the run-up to the elections, Syriza has clearly stated it regards the energy sector as a matter of public and social interests, while adding that the country will need to make investments to achieve restructured productivity and enter a new era in the battle against climate change through the development of new energy-related technology.

Syriza, in a rundown of its energy agenda obtained by energypress, stresses that it intends to alter the country’s role in the international market as a mere buyer, or consumer, of advanced technology, and, instead, utilize domestic research potential currently either sitting idle or being brain-drained out of Greece for better prospects elsewhere.

These are the main reasons why public companies need to exist and control power and gas matters, while current free-market revisions taking place at a European level in the energy sector aim to fully commercialize the sector, Syriza noted. The party clearly does not agree with the course being taken.

As for hydrocarbon exploration, Syriza noted that international experience has proven the need for systematic research over extended periods, even decades, before real results can emerge. The leftist party criticized the conservative New Democracy party-led coalition of using the country’s hydrocarbon prospects as a mere communicative tool for interests of political expediency.

On energy-sector privatizations worked on by the coalition, the Syriza party stated that state-controlled companies are indispensible tools for energy policy and production. Subsequently, the series of attempted privatizations will need to be cancelled, while productive restructuring will be a necessary step, the party noted.

The party’s plan for PPC, Syriza noted, entails unifying all its subsidiary firms, restructuring, investment in the upgrading of facilities and environmental concerns. Syriza will reduce the cost of electricity by utilizing local sources and eliminating indirect costs such as taxes and surcharges that make up 70 percent of electricity price levels being charged, the party stated.

 

Most of the country’s energy sector issues and developments stand awaiting the result of the upcoming early national elections on January 25, which makes any predictions for the industry extremely precarious.

Victory and majority rule for left-wing Syriza, the main opposition party currently ahead in polls, will lead to radical changes and upheavals. Should its main rival, the conservative New Democracy party, defy the polls and score an election victory, rapid progress can be expected along a number of fronts, especially privatizations. Either way, both parties may fail to achieve an outright majority, meaning they would need to serve as  senior partners of coalition governments, which would dilute their political potency.

Pending privatization procedures and the liberalization of the country’s electricity and gas markets can be expected to be completed in the case of victory for New Democracy, which led the outgoing coalition. The  crucial question concerns Syriza’s intentions, even though the party has more or less stated how it intends to handle energy sector issues if elected to govern.

Amid a stable political environment, the privatization of IPTO, the Independent Power Transmission Operator, would have been completed within the first few months of 2015. Syriza has voiced strong opposition to the sale of a 66 percent equity share of the operator, a subsidiary firm of PPC, the Public Power Corporation. Despite being at its closing stages, the tender cannot be expected to be finalized under a Syriza government. The same applies for a planned 17 percent sale of PPC following the IPTO privatization.

As for the privatization of DESFA, the Natural Gas Transmission System Operator, with Azeri company Socar as the buyer, it had reached its final stage but was stalled and delayed by the European Commission for an examination over EU energy security concerns. A Syriza government would complicate proceedings here, too.

The planned liberalization of the gas and electricity markets would be subject to a series of amendments if Syriza prevails to govern either independently or as the senior partner of a coalition. The gas market’s liberalization was at an advanced stage prior to the government’s fall. The liberalization of the electricity market through a series of revisions, such as NOME-type auctions, was also in the making before snap elections were called.

According to Syriza’s planned policies for the energy sector, the role of state-controlled companies will be bolstered, which also raises questions about the future standing of ELPE (Hellenic Petroleum). The public sector may not have majority control of ELPE, but it does hold a considerable stake.

As for the development of natural gas pipeline infrastructure, no major changes are expected here, regardless of the election’s outcome, because the shape of most projects has been pre-determined. However, Syriza has left open the possibility of attempting to reach a new agreement for the TAP (Trans Adriatic Pipeline) project, citing the State’s level of interest, and its corporate inclusion as a consortium partner. It remains unclear whether this is legally feasible.

Syriza has not voiced objections to the interconnection of the Cyclades with the mainland grid or the development of an underground natural gas storage facility in Kavala, northern Greece.

The recent plunge in international oil prices, alone, has lowered the expectations for the country’s oil exploration and exploitation tenders. Market trends aside, Syriza has forwarded a revised model that makes the State a consortium partner at both the exploration and exploitation stages. Tenders currently in progress are based on lease-agreement models, which stipulate specific taxation, royalty payments and other obligations for companies involved. Syriza is promoting a model based on production sharing agreements, which would offer the Greek State rights in research, development, and production.

With Greek Parliament set to be dissolved today ahead of early elections on January 25, numerous energy sector issues will be left pending over the short pre-election campaign. Some of these will possibly begin to roll once a new government is sworn in, regardless of the outcome at the polls. On the contrary, other matters may well be cancelled or shelved for lengthy periods.

One thing for certain is that all privatization procedures will temporarily stop moving, beginning with that of IPTO, the Independent Power Transmission Operator, which was at its closing stage, as binding offers were set to be submitted by candidates before the country’s political uncertainty set in. If Syriza, the left-wing main opposition party is elected to govern, either alone or as the main partner of a coalition, IPTO’s privatization prospects are expected to be deeply affected.

This is also the case for the part-privatization of PPC, the Public Power Corporation, entailing the sale of a 30 percent stake, followed by a further sale of a 17 percent equity share in the corporation, as well as the sales of DEPA (Public Gas Corporation), and the state’s 35 percent stake in ELPE (Hellenic Petroleum). The long-delayed sale of a 66 percent equity share of DESFA (Natural Gas Transmission System Operator) to Azeri company Socar, currently being examined by the European Commission over EU energy competition and security concerns, may stop short of offering the prospective buyer majority control.

Just days ago, two Syriza MPs, Thanassis Petrakos and Aphrodite Stambouli, declared that the country’s energy security concerns require a strong, state-controlled energy sector for utilities of strategic public importance.

The outgoing coalition’s plan to liberalize the country’s gas market, fully prepared after much work, can also be expected to be deeply affected by the political turmoil. It remains to be seen if this plan will be pursued by the next government. This is likely, possibly in a revised form, as the gas market’s liberalization is an EU obligation.

Also suspended, for the time being at least, are revisions enabling flat owners in apartment buildings to switch from heating fuel to independent gas heating systems. The transfer of a  responsibility for collecting electricity bill surcharges to fund renewable energy source (RES) producers from IPTO to LAGIE, the Electricity Market Operator, will also be put on hold. Both these revisions had been incorporated into the gas market reforms bill. However, RES producers were exempted from an Emission Reduction Tariff (ETMEAR) for self-produced electricity through an amendment ratified in Parliament just prior to Christmas, setting in motion a net metering plan for self-producers. A ministerial decision still needs to be signed if the net metering plan is to be launched. It will enable electricity consumers who generate their own power from an eligible on-site facility and deliver it to local distribution facilities to offset the electric energy provided by the utility during an applicable billing period.

The coalition’s work for the introduction of NOME-type auctions in the electricity market, which involved challenging negotiations with the country’s creditor representatives, or troika, can also be considered an ill-fated effort, at least for now. Legislative amendments still need to be made if the electricity auctions are to begin being staged in the Greek market.

On the contrary, revisions to the country’s capacity availability mechanism do not require amendments or ministerial approval. This domain is controlled by RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, meaning that approval by its board is the only prerequisite. However, the plan, which would lead to changes for the market’s CATs (Capacity Availability Tickets), still needs to be forwarded for public consultation. Despite an agreement by the coalition with the troika on the capacity availability mechanism, the political situation will need to be cleared up before further progress can be made.

Smooth sailing for the TAP (Trans Adriatic Pipeline) project, to carry natural gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, via Greece, Albania, and the Adriatic Sea, is also currently in doubt. The Syriza party has repeatedly noted that the Greek State’s agreement with the project’s consortium provides too much authority to the consortium, and, as a result, will be renegotiated if the party is elected into power. Even though party officials admit that the feasibility of such a prospect is not legally definite, the intention alone does create some uncertainty for a project of strategic importance to national interests.