The producer’s final income after settlement cannot exceed 180 EUR/MWh (European limit), and the energy produced must be less than or equal to the monthly consumption of the industrial consumer. The agreement paves the way for the completion of negotiations between Biohalco and the TITAN cement industry with PPC on ten-year bilateral contracts, of which PPC will supply the two companies with lignite products for the first two to three years, and from September 2025 the production of new solar power plants.

Bilateral contracts will provide the industry with the predictability and long-term price stability it needs to be competitive.

Negotiations with the PPC were launched from the beginning of 2022 due to the expiration of contracts for energy-intensive industries at the end of the same year, and were “frozen” in July with the implementation of the introduced surplus reimbursement mechanism. profits on the wholesale electricity market. Establishing a ceiling on the income of producers in the wholesale market makes it impossible to conclude long-term bilateral agreements in the renewable energy industry (RES), as it does not take as a basis the calculation of the actual income of the producer, since they arise after the calculation of the energy exchange with the buyer at a mutually agreed price.

This obstacle will be removed by the legislative regulation that is being launched, the implementation of which will require technical improvements from the Energy Exchange. The new measure should also be notified to the EU.

With the adoption of the regulation, in addition to the negotiations of the energy-intensive high-voltage industries with PPC, the opportunity will be open to finalize pre-negotiated bilateral contracts for thousands of megawatts between the high-voltage and medium-voltage industries with renewable energy producers. , which cannot be “locked” due to this wait. Due to the high interest shown in RES projects in this category, which will be built to provide enterprises with green energy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by its decision in January, began to increase the capacity to provide conditions for connecting to the grid from the initial 1.5 GW to 4 GW.

Bilateral contracts will provide the industry with the predictability and long-term price stability it needs to remain competitive despite the current daily market fluctuations, which are among the highest in Europe.

Additional subsidies for small businesses are a thorn in the side.

In a letter to the Minister of Environment and Energy, he demands the immediate and full coverage of the amount that was financed from equity to subsidize customers, in the context of an additional horizontal subsidy measure for companies with electricity supply up to 35 kVA (1.240 million companies), Kostas Skrekas, President and PPC CEO Giorgos Stasis. A similar letter was sent to the minister by the Energy Suppliers Association (ESPEN).

In his letter dated January 26, 2023, the head of the PPC points out the serious problems caused by the involvement of suppliers in the implementation of the January 3 KYA regarding the provision of a subsidy from the Energy Transition Fund to a certain category of companies. “…The financial gap that suppliers must initially cover with their own resources has reached a significant level, so for the uninterrupted and competitive operation of the electricity supply market, its immediate and full coverage is necessary,” he said. remarks, incidentally, in a letter from Mr. Stasis. It also refers to the “financial and commercial risk” associated with the active participation of providers in the implementation of the MFA, and emphasizes that there will be no further delays in reimbursing providers of amounts they have already paid for subsidies and more. any deviations related to KYA procedures.

PPC is reportedly one of the few suppliers still providing additional subsidies to its utility customers up to 35 kVA. Most stopped lending subsidies with the issuance of KYA on January 3 when they discovered that its terms did not apply to loan recipients, based on letters they received every month from the minister from April 2022 and after the announcement of the measure. , which was applied retroactively from January.

KYA took into account the decision of the commission, which approved the measure not horizontally for enterprises up to 35 kVA (and bakeries), but on the condition that the total amount of state subsidies received by them does not exceed a certain limit. Thus, suppliers found that on the one hand they were credited with amounts that they would not receive back from TEM, and on the other hand they were required by KYA to independently verify that their customers did not exceed the established maximum subsidy limits, by means of complex process. collection of responsible declarations, and then seek the recovery of additional amounts that they themselves paid.

As a result of this differentiation of beneficiaries, based on the letters of Mr. Skrekas and beneficiaries based on the KYA, the CPT has credited an additional subsidy to a wider range of beneficiaries, “for whom it is absolutely reasonable and in good faith to expect the full payment of the corresponding amounts to the company,” says Mr. Stasis.

Suppliers bear the negative consequences of a government rather than a commercial measure, according to Mr. Stasis, as the supplier acts as the one who judges and decides on the client’s right to help.

The CPT considers it necessary to remove suppliers from the implementation of the measure and entrust it to an independent public body through an amendment to the Public Procurement Law. This, in the opinion of the CPT, could be DAPEEP, which, by virtue of its competence, would have access to updated beneficiary data. Alternatively, according to the PPC, the subsidy process could be facilitated by giving providers direct access to their customers’ AADE-based data through an appropriate implementation.