Skrekas: Now is the time for a cap on natural gas – Next winter will be more difficult

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Kostas Skrekas repeated the criticism against the EU for delay in decision-making of which – as he pointed out – we are now seeing the results

Now is the right time to test the gas price cap mechanism as the weather conditions are favorable, gas consumption is down and Europe’s storages are showing high fill rates, the Environment and Energy Minister pointed out Kostas Skrekas speaking tonight Monday at the conference of the Greek-American Chamber, while warning that the next winter (2023-2024) will be more difficult.

The minister repeated the criticism against the European Union for delay in taking decisions of which – as he emphasized – we are now seeing the results: “Many European industries are reducing their production or closing down, all energy-intensive industries are suffering, and this means that in the end they will society is also suffering. However, there is time to take the necessary decisions based on the proposal already submitted by the Prime Minister in March in order to deal with speculation on the energy exchanges and price manipulation by Russia,” he stressed.

Mr. Skrekas pointed out that the long-term solution for both security of supply and price reduction is the development of renewable energy sources and for this reason the government is proceeding with the development of the required infrastructure at the level of interconnections and energy storage with the final goal by 2030, 80% of electricity consumption should be covered by RES. He also underlined the upgrading of Greece’s geopolitical role for the security of supply of the wider region of South-Eastern Europe with the implementation of the TAP and IGB pipelines, the new reservoir in Revythoussa as well as the new floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) station in Alexandroupoli which is under construction.

The vice president of American Cheniere, which is active in the export of Liquefied Natural Gas from the USA, Andrew Walker characterized Greece key point for the supply of the Balkans, at a level that could not have been foreseen in the previous few years. According to the figures he quoted, overall Europe will reduce natural gas imports from Russia this year, while Liquefied Gas imports increased by 50 billion cubic meters, at a record level. “We are helping Europe to keep the lights on and above all the heating,” he emphasized.

The vice-president and managing director of Gastrade, which is developing the floating LNG station in Alexandroupoli, Kostis Sifnaios said that the station will be commissioned in January 2024 and will support the development of the vertical gas supply corridor to the markets of central Europe and in a second Ukraine’s time, filling much of the gap from Russian natural gas. “Alexandroupoli places Greece at the center of geopolitical developments as a reliable leader,” he stressed.

For great investment interest in the field of the green transition in Greece, Deloitte’s partner, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, spoke. “We are talking to Greek and foreign investors, there is a lot of interest in investing in renewable energy sources, but also in participation and market tests and in closing capacity in liquefied gas stations. They see that Greece will become an energy hub. A few years ago we were only talking about the Greek market, now we are talking about the wider area and much larger quantities of natural gas,” he noted.

RES-EMP

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