With the whole of Europe suffering from massive rises in the cost of electricity and fuel as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the government has announced a further packet of measures to help households and businesses in October.
At a press conference on Wednesday 21st September the Energy minister Kostas Skrekas said that the government is continuing to pursue its three-pronged policy of subsidising affordable energy prices for households, taking steps to ensure adequate supplies of energy throughout the winter, and encouraging energy-saving measures.
A windfall tax on the profits of electricity companies has already yielded EUR 2 billion in 2.5 months, which will go to support energy subsidies and energy security and transition measures. Record amounts of liquefied natural gas are arriving a the newly expanded Revythousa terminal in the Megara Gulf near Athens.
Subsidies for electricity
From 1st October there will be a new graduated scale of subsidies for household electricity bills. Specifically, for the month of October, there will be three categories of subsidy for domestic consumers.
1) For households consuming up to 500kWh per month, a subsidy of EUR 436 per Megawatt hour will cover 90 per cent of the price increase. This bracket includes 90 per cent of households in Greece.
2) For monthly consumption from 501 to 1000 kWh, 80 per cent of the increase will be absorbed, with a subsidy of EUR 386 per MWh. However, if a household reduces its average daily consumption by 15 per cent compared to the same period last year, the subsidy will be increased by EUR 50 per MWh.
3) For monthly consumption over 1001 kWh, the government will absorb 70 per cent of the increase with a subsidy of EUR 336 per MWh.
For households which are enrolled in the Social Residential Tariff, almost 100 per cent of the increase is absorbed, with a subsidy of EUR 485 per MWh. There are also scaled subsidies for businesses and and a flat rate of EUR 436 per MWh for farmers.
The total cost of electricity subsidies for the month of October will come to EUR 1.1 billion, of which 1 billion will come from the windfall tax on electricity suppliers and pollutant permit auctions, and EUR 100 million from the government budget.
The measures follow an expenditure of EUR 1.9 million in September, with electricity subsidies ranging from EUR 639 per MWh for households and farmers, down to EUR 342 per MWh for industry.
Subsidies for natural gas
The national gas suppplier DEPA, together with the other suppliers, will provide a flate rate subsidy of EUR 90 per thermal MWh for all domestic consumers, absorbing 50 per cent of the increase. The measure will affect 700,000 domestic consumers regardless of income, dwelling size or supplier. There will be a subsidy of EUR 40 per thermal MWh for all commercial consumers, regardless of business turnover or number of workers.
The Energy ministry has published on its website a list of 23 suggested measures for saving energy in the home, which can be found here (in Greek only).
Minister at international gas conference
Speaking at the Romanian International Gas Conference – RIGG 2022 in Bucharest on Thursday 22nd September, the Greek Energy minister Kostas Skrekas outlined the government’s strategy for ensuring energy security during the coming winter and highlighted the steps it is taking to develop the country’s energy independence. He noted that Greece’s consumption of natural gas in September was 40 per cent less than in the same period last year. Record amounts of imported liquid natural gas (LNG) have been arriving at the Revythousa terminal and the country’s LNG regasification capacity has increased by 12 per cent since June. While the TAP pipeline which links Greece, Albania and Italy is so far providing almost 20 per cent of Greece’s domestic consumption, the IGP pipeline linking Greece and Bulgaria will start commercial operation on 1st October. It will have a capacity of 3 to 5 billion cu m per year.