Greek demand bounces back as renewables and gas dominate mix

Greek electricity demand bounced back in September, rising 1.66% year on year after a 4.6% decline in August, data from system operator Energy Exchange Group showed.

This was despite government warnings early in October that the Greek economy would shrink by an estimated 8.2% this year due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

September demand of 4.1 TWh took year-to-date consumption to 36.6 TWh, down 6% year on year.

Supply for the month was dominated by gas and renewables, up 17% and 54% respectively on September 2019 levels, to account for a combined 75% of the generation mix (including imports, exports).

The collapse in lignite generation continued, down 66% in September and nearly 60% in the year to date, to account for just 4.6% of the mix.

Imports were also down (by 21% year on year to 16% of the mix), a positive development for the government, which wants to see indigenous supply grow as the country develops its strong wind and solar resource.

Nevertheless, the system operator again noted “uneconomic flows” from Italy for 446 hours in the month, while from Bulgaria the figure was 542 hours.

These imports, from a higher-priced market to a lower-priced market, occur under short-term capacity rights that would not take place if the respective markets were market-coupled, according to the system operator.

In the market, average system spot prices were stable month on month at Eur46.62/MWh and were seen to be recovering somewhat in a yearly comparison, down 23.5% on September 2019 versus a year-on-year decline of 28% in August, 34% in July and 50% in June.

State generator PPC’s domestic generation market share in September was 36.33%, stable month on month, while DAPEEP, the system operator’s renewable energy single buyer subsidiary, saw its share climb four percentage points month on month to 28.70%.

Then came the country’s leading independent combined-cycle gas turbine operators Mytilineos (10.36%) and Elpedison (7.81%), followed by Korinthos Power (6%, a plant that is 65%-owned by Mytilineos).
Source: Platts