Project of national importance status for interconnection in north

The government has declared a new 400-kV electrical interconnection being developed by power grid operator IPTO from Filippoi to Nea Sanda in northern Greece as a project of national importance, a move promising unhindered development as the classification limits any potential obstacles that may arise in terms of licensing or environmental issues.

The electrical interconnection, to run a length of approximately 140 kilometers, was declared a project of national significance by the energy ministry as well as the development and investment ministry.

A number of factors were taken into account, including the objective of IPTO, owner and operator of the country’s grid, to ensure adequate, continuous, secure, efficient and reliable electricity supply to the country.

Balancing market interests as well as cross-border trade, based on principles of transparency, equality and free competition, were also taken into account.

So, too, was the potential offered by the project to increase storage capacity and distribution of electricity production, especially that of renewables, mainly large-scale wind farms, plus conventional power stations in the wider region.

Electricity imports and exports down over the past year

Electricity imports fell by approximately 40 percent in October compared to the previous month and 26 percent compared to a year earlier, latest data provided by LAGIE, the Electricity Market Operator, has shown.

Electricity exports rose by 12.7 percent in October compared to the previous month, driven by higher prices fetched by traders abroad, but dropped by 30 percent compared to October last year, the data showed.

It should be noted that Greece’s transboundary electricity trade was greatly impacted by technical problems concerning the country’s interconnection with Italy, which was out of order for much of October.

Greece’s System Marginal Price (SMP), representing the wholesale price, was steady from September to October this year, but rose by 11.7 euros per MWh this October compared to a year earlier.

The main power utility PPC, forced to import enormous electricity amounts, imported 147,578 MWh in October, making it the month’s biggest importer. GEN-I was October’s biggest exporter, delivering an amount of 108,358 MWh.