If the high prices in the wholesale markets persist for days, then we will have to look for deeper reasons why they remain at high levels, market sources said to “Naftemporiki.”
In such a case the solutions will not be easy or simple, they estimated.
During the summer period, the reason for the high prices were the extraordinary conditions in the operation of the electricity system in the region of South-Eastern Europe (see July) and the high temperatures which increased demand (see August).
However, according to competent sources with knowledge of the matter, the maintenance of prices at high levels during the first days of September, even if the cause is largely related to the “Ukraine” factor, forces a deeper investigation of the issue both from the point of view of market participants as well as at an institutional level.
The destruction of a series of critical energy infrastructures of Ukraine in the war with Russia has forced the country from being a purely electricity exporting country before the war to becoming a purely importing country with significant amounts of energy flowing in from the neighboring countries of SE Europe to cover the energy needs.
Therefore, the de facto limited possibilities of the Balkan and SE European markets (including Greece) due to limitations in interconnections and production capacity, create conditions for a jump in prices that is now spread from country to country as it is observed in the energy exchanges of the region lately.
The industrial associations of Greece, Romania and Bulgaria have already written a letter to the Directorate-General for Energy and the Directorate-General for Competition of the EU, asking them to look into the matter.
