Weaning energy-intensive industries from checkpoint it even started with the most famous names in the sector, who collect the most consumption.

Aluminum of Greece, the largest consumer electricity in the country, with a consumption of 3 terawatt-hours per year, began to purchase electricity from its subsidiaries Protergia And watt and volt and begins its full independence from the dominant company, using a strong portfolio Renewable energy sources which has, but also a direct line of communication of the new natural gas installation with metallurgical enterprises.

The next largest consumer, the Viohalco group, which consumes 1.4 terawatt-hours per year, has been buying electricity from Iron for several months (GEK TERNA Group) and is in the final stages of signing contracts with photovoltaic producers, whose energy is also managed by a subsidiary of GEK TERNA Optimus Energy, which is the largest aggregate renewable representative body (FoSE RES) in the Greek market.

According to the information, the Titan cement industry, with a consumption of 0.5 terawatt-hours per year, is also looking for an alternative supplier. Titan’s cement industry contract with PPC expires next June, and the company is reportedly in talks with both Iron and Protergia.

ELPE have already left the checkpoint and receive electricity from it Elpedison (a joint venture with Edison) and PPC currently retain the AGET cement industry and the MEL paper industry, with lower consumption of 0.4 and 0.08 terawatt-hours, respectively, per year.

The way for energy-intensive industries to escape from the checkpoint was actually opened by the company itself, since with the expiration of fixed tariff agreements at the end of December last year, it began negotiations on new tariffs based on the wholesale market price. Thus, PPC was essentially looking to open up the high voltage market, a sector that for many years was largely supported by political decisions due to its dominant position in the market.

According to the information, the cement industry “Titan” is also looking for an alternative supplier.

The share of PPC in the high voltage sector remained close to 95% for many years before falling to 87.8% in 2021 and 88.3% in 2022 when its average supply market share declined in the same year up to 62.4%. On the contrary, in the medium trend where profitability is high, the share of PPC has gradually decreased to 44.2% in 2022, and in the low trend it has decreased to 65% respectively.

The transition from a historical model of electricity supply to a contract basis to fully meet the needs of energy-intensive industries is a multi-factorial equation, adapted to new and future requirements, and is a complex process that takes time.

Bilateral contracts

Energy-intensive industries of the country also began to use the instrument of long-term bilateral contracts (LDD) with renewable energy producers after the exclusion energy from the ceiling to the wholesale market. The signed PPAs take into account the activation of the Green Pool from 01/01/2024, the mechanism that has been notified for approval commission and will partially subsidize the incremental costs of industry to switch from conventional energy consumption to renewable energy sources.

GEK TERNA officially announced yesterday that, leveraging the comparative advantages and synergies of its subsidiaries, Iron and Optimus Energy, and recent legislation to remove bilateral contracts for energy-intensive customers from the wholesale market ceiling, it has completed the first contracts with energy-intensive customers. Under the PPA contracts, Iron’s energy-intensive industrial and commercial customers benefit from customized clean energy solutions, powered by renewable energy sources introduced by Optimus Energy, according to a statement from the company.

PPC remains a potential supplier to the energy-intensive industry, but negotiations between the two sides are moving to a new level. “Now we don’t have to go to contextual advertising, it has to come to us,” says a typical representative of a large industry. Negotiations continue on the basis of signing 10-year contracts with PPC’s new photovoltaic parks and until their completion with energy from the company’s lignite blocks.