After the July “crisis”, a new increase in wholesale electricity prices has been recorded at the beginning of September.
The reason this time is the destruction of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. As a response, lignite and gas thermal plants in Greece are exporting electricity in order to benefit from the astronomical prices offered on the international market – to the detriment of Greek consumers. Thus, for example, on September 4, the Greek electricity market was purely export-oriented.
Prices even reach 1.000 Euros/MWh in the evening, when the contribution of lignite and gas plants to meeting demand, both domestic and from neighboring countries, is maximized.
“The increased use of expensive fossil fuel plants is weighing on prices in the Greek wholesale market”, Nikos Mantzaris said in a report by Stelios Bouras for Business Daily (4/9/2024).
As he explained, the bids made by some thermal plants in Greece are much higher than their variable costs, leading power companies to very high profits.
“While this is allowed by electricity market regulations across Europe, it still places a disproportionate burden on Greek consumers”, the Green Tank policy analyst added.
You can read the article in Greek here.
