A draft bill will soon be ready for the target model, Greece’s part in the development of a single European electricity market, while a 17 percent share of main power utility PPC will not be privatized, as has been reported, energy minister Panos Skourletis told parliament today ahead of tomorrow’s expected ratification of the country’s new renewable energy (RES) support framework.

The minister noted that the country’s RES sector is headed for new conditions, through a smooth transition, that promise benefits for all. RES tariff levels were excessive in the past as a result of the “lack of a national strategy and growth plan,” he noted, adding that Greece will now be equipped with a new support framework featuring tenders.

Greece wiill more than meet its emission-related targets set for 2020, Skourletis predicted.

The minister informed that he and associates will not permit the implementation of a plan by TAIPED, the State Privatization Fund, to sell a 17 percent stake of PPC. The series of market reforms that are increasingly liberalizing Greece’s electricity market have made this particular privatization unnecessary, the minister remarked. Under the current electricity market conditions, TAIPED’s insistence for a 17 percent sale of PPC purely serves vested interests, the minister said.

Skourletis described the RES special account deficit as an issue of crucial importance. He described the government’s decision to introduce a surcharge for electricity suppliers, to help cover the deficit, as a reasonable move.