Energy Ministry

Now that it appears the power auctions (NOME) will be abolished, private electricity providers are waiting to hear what the government plans to introduce instead, amid uncertainty in the market.

Public Power Corporation (PPC) customers will know on Friday whether the financially troubled utility will charge them more to make up for what its new chief executive has described as a "dramatic" cash shortfall.

The streamlining plan for Public Power Corporation (PPC) that was announced by the government in Parliament on Monday appears to have secured the provisional consent of Greece's creditors.

The US Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt welcomed on Thursday the signing of a deal between Greece and a three-member consortium comprised of ExxonMobil, Total and Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE) for an offshore license west and southwest of Crete.
Pyatt said the agreement with the Energy Ministry is "an important step forward in Greece's emergence as a major European energy hub."

Concerns have grown at Public Power Corporation in the last couple of days over the serious possibility that the Energy Ministry will not table in Parliament the amendment regarding the approval of the payment of the utility subsidy from 2011 through funds from the primary budget surplus.

Next Tuesday's conference call between Energy Ministry officials and the European Commission's Directorate General for Competition (DGComp) will determine the fate of the fifth plant of Public Power Corporation at Ptolemaida, in Western Macedonia.

The government on Thursday forced the departure of the chief executive officer of the Public Gas Corporation (DEPA), Dimitris Tzortzis.

Greek grid operator ADMIE on Friday launched two tenders to build two undersea cables linking the island of Crete to mainland Attica, the Energy Ministry said.

The 915 million-euro project will be completed within 2022, the ministry said.

Concerns from Crete's Deputy Regional Governor Nikos Kalogeris of blackouts this summer put a damper on Thursday's ceremony by the Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMIE) and the European Investment Bank at the Energy Ministry for the signing of the so-called "small interconnection" linking Crete with the Peloponnese, which is different to the planned Crete-Attica linkup.

Greece's Electricity Distribution Network Operator (DEDDIE) has sent a letter to Public Power Corporation warning of blackouts on the island of Crete ahead of the summer tourism season unless measures are taken at once to tackle a host of serious problems.