Greece was more dependent than ever on Russian gas via pipeline in July 2024, with an all-time high of monthly imports (3.69 TWh). Gas consumption in the first seven months of 2024 (37.03 TWh) increased by 27.6%, compared to the same period in 2023. Greece ranked last in the EU-27 in the first quarter of the voluntary gas consumption reduction period, with an increase (instead of a decrease) in gas use of 17.3%.
The month of July
According to the latest available data from DESFA, in July 2024 total domestic gas consumption exceeded 6 TWh (6.24 TWh). It was the second highest in six years (2019-2024) for the month of July, after 2021 (6.69 TWh).
The largest increase in absolute terms, compared to the same month last year, came from electricity (+0.8 TWh or +18.5%). Industry followed with a smaller increase (+0.1 TWh or +19.7%). Gas use in networks also increased by 0.06 TWh (+11.6%), after 5 consecutive months of decline compared to the same month last year.
Cumulative performance in the first seven months of 2024
Cumulatively, gas consumption for the first seven months of 2024 was 37.03 TWh, marking an increase compared to the five-year average of 2.17 TWh (+6.2%). The increase was even larger compared to the first seven months of 2023 (+8 TWh or +27.6%).
As far as end-uses are concerned, the largest increase compared to the five-year average was recorded in industry (+27.5% or +1.13 TWh), followed by electricity (+8.1% ή +1.86 TWh). In contrast, there was a decrease in networks (-10.3% or -0.81 TWh).
Similarly, when comparing the first seven months of 2024 with the same period in 2023, the largest percentage increase was in industry (+116.2% or +2.8 TWh), followed by electricity (+28.1% or +5.44 TWh). In contrast, there was a decrease in distribution networks (-3.2% or -0.23 TWh).
Consumption in 2024
Gas consumption in July 2024 (6.24 TWh) was the highest of the year, up 18% compared to July 2023 (+0.95 TWh).
Looking at the breakdown of gas consumption by end-use in the first seven months of 2024, electricity had the largest share with 24.8 TWh (or 67%), almost equal to the first seven months of 2023 (66.7%).
The share of distribution networks decreased from 25% (or 7.26 TWh) in the first seven months of 2023 to 19% (or 7.03 TWh). This redistribution was the result of a large increase in the share of industry, which rose by almost 6 percentage points – from 8.3% (or 2.4 TWh) in the first seven months of 2023 to 14% (or 5.22 TWh) in the same period of 2024.
The voluntary European target of -15%
In March 2024, the European Union issued a recommendation for Member States to continue their efforts in reducing gas consuption by 15% for the period April 2024 to March 2025, compared to the reference period from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2022. This recommendation follows the mandatory directive in August 2022 to reduce gas consumption by 15% in the eight-month period of August 2022-March 2023 compared to a baseline period, as well as the decision in March 2023 to voluntarily reduce consumption between April 2023 and March 2024.
Therefore, considering Greece’s performance so far, it appears that for the first four months of the new voluntary reduction period, that is April-July 2024, the country did not decrease its gas consumption compared to the reference period, but instead increased it. In particular, consumption (20.82 TWh) was 6.01 TWh higher than the target (14.8 TWh), while it exceeded the average of the reference period (17.41 TWh) by 3.41 TWh.
Comparison with the European Union for the voluntary European target of -15%
Based on the latest available Eurostat data[1] on monthly gas consumption in the EU-27 Member States (May 2024), for the first three months of the new voluntary reduction period (April-June 2024), Greece increased its consumption by 17.3% compared to the reference period[2] of the voluntary reduction target. This performance places Greece last compared to the rest of the EU; it is actually one of the two countries that have increased their gas consumption. The other one is Slovenia (+5.6%). The EU-27 came 15th (-18.9%) in the ranking, meeting its voluntary gas consumption reduction target (-15%).
This is an alarming deterioration of the national performance compared to that of the mandatory target ― imposed by the EU at the peak of the energy crisis ― to reduce fossil gas consumption by at least 15% in the eight-month period between August 2022-March 2023 compared to the average of the previous five-year period. Specifically, Greece had achieved then a 21.9% reduction and was in 10th place, surpassing both the European average (16th place) and countries such as Germany, Austria or Italy.
Imports in 2024
Russian pipeline gas imports (3.69 TWh) reached an all-time high in July 2024 and were almost double compared to July 2023. As a result, the monthly share of Turkstream imports reached almost 60% (59%).
On the other hand, the monthly flow of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Agia Triada gateway was halved in July 2024 (1.21 TWh) compared to the same month in 2023 (2.51 TWh). In fact, it also decreased compared to the previous month (June 2024), falling to the third place of overall imports, with a 19.3% share in total monthly imports.
Since the end of February, LNG imports have also been carried out from the new FSRU station in Alexandroupoli, which has not yet become commercially operational. Based on the data published so far, 0.28 TWh have been imported from this gateway[3].
Gas from TAP via New Mesimvria was second in July with a share of 21.7% (1.36 TWh), recording an 129.6% increase compared to July 2023. Imports from the fourth gateway to Turkey, the Gardens, were zero for the seventh consecutive month, ie. since the beginning of the year.
Cumulatively, for the first seven months of 2024, total imports from Greece’s entry points were 37.03 TWh, up 15.8% compared to the same period of 2023.
Imports through the Sidirokastro gate are now consistently the first source of supply in Greece, with 19.15 TWh and a share of over 50% (51.7%). The corresponding share in the first seven months of 2023 was only 14.2%.
LNG imports via the Agia Triada gateway were second with 10.41 TWh and a share of 28.1%, marking a large decrease (-50.9%) compared to the first seven months of 2023. Azeri gas imports through TAP remained in third place with 7.18 TWh and a share of 19.4%, up 43.1% compared to the first seven months of 2023.
Finally, there were zero gas exports through the Sidirokastro gate for the 11th consecutive month (since September 2023).
Russian gas imports to Greece
As far as fossil gas from Russia is concerned, there are two entry points: one from Sidirokastro through the Turkstream pipeline and a second one in the form of liquefied fossil gas (LNG) from the Agia Triada gateway.
The energy crisis, intensified by the war in Ukraine, resulted in a significant reduction in Russian gas imports from Turkstream as early as April 2022. This was reflected in the 86.2% reduction of Russian gas from this pipeline during the period of the mandatory reduction target (August 2022-March 2023) compared to the same period of the previous year.
Russian gas in the form of LNG was first imported to Greece in October 2022, a few months after Russia’s war in Ukraine began. Until mid-2023, the first source of imports into the country was LNG (excluding Russian LNG) from the Agia Triada gate.
June 2023 was the first month when Russian gas (from pipeline and LNG) became the first source of imports with a 46% share, followed by LNG from all other countries except Russia (37% share). In fact, this trend continued for all other months of 2023 until May 2024[4].
Specifically, in the first seven months of 2024, Russian gas exceeded 55% of Greece’s total gas imports (at least 56.9%[5]). This high share is mainly due to the imports of Russian gas through pipeline, as Russian LNG imports were reduced in the first two months of 2024 and dropped to zero in the next months (March – June).
It is noteworthy that in the period June 2023 – July 2024, total Russian gas imports were at least 40.52 TWh, i.e. 75.3% more than the corresponding period before and during the beginning of Russia’s war in Ukraine (23.1 TWh between June 2021 and July 2022).
It can therefore be observed that Russian gas imports not only increased, but also exceeded the levels of the energy crisis. An important role in this was initially played by the increase in Russian LNG imports, but mainly by Russian gas imports via Turkstream (Sidirokastro gateway). Russian pipeline gas has shown a significant increase especially in the last seven months, taking the lead in terms of share of total imports.
Read here the analyses of the previous months since the start of the EU reduction measures in August 2022.
[1] Some of the Eurostat data, especially for the last few months, are provisional and will be finalized in the coming months. Cyprus has not been included in the comparison as it has zero gas consumption.
[2] This period is the average of the April-May intervals from 2017 to 2022.
[3] LNG imports from the entry gate at Amfitriti, where the Alexandroupoli FSRU is located, do not appear every month in DESFA’s monthly reports.
[4] For July there is no data in Eurostat for Russian LNG.
[5] Actual imports are likely higher, as they do not include potential imports of Russian LNG in July 2024.
