Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, speaking yesterday at a Federation of Industries of Northern Greece (SBBE) annual meeting, noted that 100 million euros of an additional 300 million euros expected to become available to Greece as of 2019 for public investments would go towards supporting energy upgrades at energy-intensive industrial units.

The government was promised additional public investment funds in exchange for the latest round of measures added to the Greek bailout agreement.

These energy upgrades will lead to energy cost savings for industrial enterprises and lower production costs, Tsipras told the SBBE audience.

Tsipras described the high energy costs faced by manufacturers as a “thorny” issue, while noting that his government has taken certain steps to combat the issue.

He made reference to the abolition of the special consumption tax (EFK) tax imposed on natural gas used for electricity generation; an EFK reduction for natural gas used in industrial production; as well as the implementation of the demand response mechanism (interruptability). This mechanism enables major industrial enterprises to be compensated when the TSO (IPTO) requests that they shift their energy usage by lowering or stopping consumption during high-demand peak hours so as to balance the electricity system needs.