Greece, based on the risk assessment carried out by the Waste, Energy and Water Regulatory Authority, for next winter, is in a better situation, compared to last year, as the recent simulation results of the scenarios described in the currently completed national Risk Study for next winter do not show cases of a significant natural gas shortage with serious consequences for the country.

This was pointed out by the Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy, Alexandra Sdoukou, during her speech at the Energy Security Conference held on September 13 and 14, in Warsaw. He also underlined that compared to last winter, the new Ptolemaida V lignite unit with a capacity of 660MW has been put into operation, while very soon the commercial operation of the new Alexandroupolis Liquefied Natural Gas station, which has long-term capacity commitment contracts to serve both the Greek market as well as the Balkan market.

The purpose of the Conference was to prepare the EU for the coming winter, including the assessment of energy demand and supply, infrastructure resilience, emergency response mechanisms and risk management strategies, while solving energy congestion and critical gas supply diversification projects in South East Europe, aiming to reduce the region’s heavy dependence on a single natural gas supplier.

Mrs. Sdoukou referred to the successful efforts to reduce natural gas demand in the period August 2022 – March 2023 by 31%, compared to the same period last year and by 18.2%, compared to the average of the previous five years , the same period of time, achieving the goal set by Regulation 1369/2022 of the EU. At the same time, Greece reduced its dependence on Russian natural gas, from 40% to 20%.

Furthermore, the deputy minister analyzed the role played by important infrastructures of the country, such as the Hellenic-Bulgarian pipeline (IGB), the Trans-Adriatic pipeline (TAP) and the LNG terminal in Revythoussa, in ensuring the supply of natural gas throughout the SE region of Europe, emphasizing that the source of concern is the issue of prices and not the supply of natural gas.

As Mrs. Sdoukou characteristically stated: “The main lesson of the crisis is that the EU should not rely on a single supplier for its energy security, nor on a single transit country for the natural gas it imports.”

The deputy minister also underlined the increasing importance of adaptation to climate change, given that extreme weather events are becoming more and more frequent.

In the context of climate adaptation, the concept of energy security acquires a new dimension, that of the security of the energy system in environmental disasters linked to the climate crisis and the need to increase its resilience.

Finally, he emphasized that resources are needed, which will be redirected both to shielding the infrastructure from the threatened natural disasters due to climate change and, above all, to the relief of those affected when these disasters strike.

In any case, he noted that Greece will continue with ambition in terms of energy transition and climate change mitigation, but also with a stronger focus on actions and initiatives to adapt to the increasingly worsening climate risk.