Measures to avoid increases in the wholesale electricity market

At the Ministerial Session on the Energy interconnection of Central and Southeastern Europe (CESEC), held yesterday (29.10.2024), in Budapest, the Deputy Minister of Environment and Alexandra participated, representing the Minister of Environment and Energy, Theodoros Skylakis, The Session, attended by Mrs. Sdoukou, focused on regional cooperation in the field of natural gas, Renewable Energy (RES), hydrogen and electricity, and on the preparation of the Member States in the face of winter, with the “look” on energy security. It also raised the question of the extreme deviations of wholesale electricity prices between the countries of the region and Western Europe, following the relevant debate at the EU Energy Council on 15 October. In particular, Mrs Sdoukou stressed that it is important to identify the exact causes of the summer crisis and the price deviation, as no clear and adequate answers have yet been given. She invited the Regulatory Authorities Cooperation Agency to draw up a study and present its results to the next December Council of Ministers. He stressed that extreme increases cannot be interpreted in terms of increasing production costs, adding that preventive measures should be taken in the light of winter and the possible increase in energy demand, so as not to repeat the phenomenon and give flexibility to Member States to strengthen consumers and businesses. The State Secretary noted that it is important to send a signal to the markets that there are tools that can be used to suspend a repetition of the phenomenon. In addition, it analysed the readiness of the country’s energy system for winter, the end of the gas transit agreement between Russia and Ukraine, as well as the important steps Greece takes in the areas of demand response and electricity storage, alongside the development of RES. With regard to the hydrogen sector, it noted the need to create a relevant market in Southeast Europe, which requires, among other things, the identification of hydrogen production sites and its transport infrastructure needs. The European Commission, for its part, stressed that, following the relevant debate to the Council and the letters sent by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leien and the Minister of Environment and Energy, Theodoros Skylakakis, to Energy Commissioner, Country Simpson, goes on to identify both long-term measures to address the issue (storage aid, demand response, improvement of interconnections, increased capacity for existing infrastructure and maximum utilisation for electricity transmission) and short-term measures that the affected Member States can take. At the same time, he noted that he would continue the relevant consultations with those Member States.