Nikos Mantzaris, senior policy analyst and co-founder of The Green Tank, spoke with Kalli Zarali on ERT3’s Synora on 27/02/2026, about electricity exports and power prices.
Greece has emerged as a key electricity exporter in the Balkans. In 2019, the country met around 18% of its electricity needs through imports, whereas today it exports electricity to neighboring countries such as Bulgaria and North Macedonia. Nikos Mantzaris highlighted that net exports increased tenfold in 2025, reaching 3 TWh, roughly 5% of total domestic electricity production.
He explained that these exports are driven by lower electricity prices compared with neighboring countries. However, because a large share of the exported electricity is generated from expensive fossil gas—and because exports put pressure on the Greek wholesale electricity market—prices in Greece remain higher than they could otherwise be. In 2025, Greece was the eighth most expensive country in the European Union, with only a small gap from the most expensive countries and electricity prices nearly 16% higher than the EU average.
According to Nikos Mantzaris, reducing costs and strengthening the sustainability of the energy model will require expanding renewable energy sources and supporting storage infrastructure, while at the same time reducing the country’s carbon footprint.
Watch the full interview [in Greek] here.
