Preparing for winter without Russian gas

Amid mounting concern across Europe over the possibility of a complete disruption of Russian gas flows and an all-out energy war, Greece’s crisis management group met in Athens on Monday in an emergency session to assess the sufficiency of supply to the Greek market.

The stress tests that the Greek contingency plan underwent revealed that power adequacy can be guaranteed with the conversion of five technically capable units from gas to diesel and the stable participation of lignite units at 10% of daily electricity production.

However, everything is contingent on the condition that there is enough liquefied natural gas (LNG). Otherwise, the next step envisages cuts in electricity loads, first of all in industry.

Given that Greece lacks adequate storage facilities, the Energy Regulatory Authority has suggested that gas importers maintain a safety stock of 1.5 terawatt hours in Italy and 0.6 terawatt hours for power generators. However, the provision of large quantities entails substantial costs, and it remains unknown who will foot the bill. At the current gas price, 0.6 terawatt hours will cost the power generators €320 million.

For the moment, the capacity of the terminal at Revithoussa is at a high level, and the floating storage unit (FSU) that has arrived there increases the storage capacity of the terminal by 145,000 cubic meters. In addition, DEPA Trading and the other gas importing companies are in constant communication with their suppliers to secure additional LNG cargoes if necessary.

Meanwhile, a joint ministerial decision was signed Monday for the implementation of the “Thermostat” project for energy saving in the public sector entities. The target is to reduce electricity consumption by at least 10% compared to the same period of 2019. For the following years the target will be redefined.

The long list of measures foresee, among others, that indoor temperature of office buildings during the summer will not be lower than 27 degrees Celsius, and during the winter period will not exceed 19 degrees. 

Cooling-heating and office equipment will be switched off when there are no employees on the premises. Heating and cooling systems must undergo maintenance once a year.

Moreover a manager will be appointed to monitor the implementation of the measures in each public sector building. Entities that meet the target will receive subsidies from the state budget.