| ©THE HEREN REPORTS - Balkans power shortage hits Greece, few supply offers for January |
| 2010-04-06 |
| Greek power incumbent PPC has tendered for 300 MW of Baseload power in January, but has not received sufficient offers due to the shortage of power in the South East Europe region. PPC had tendered for 300-400 MW of Cal ’07 Baseload in August, and Christos Poseidon, the director of PPC’s energy management department, told Heren Energy that normally, PPC would expect two or three different offers for the full amount. However, he stated that this year, “We got some offers earlier which were not firm and very short-lived. There were not enough offers to start with, and bidders couldn’t get the power through bordering countries to Greece. There isn’t much energy to go around to start with, there’s a deficit of exportable energy in the region.” The offers totaled around 150 MW, before being withdrawn once negotiations had started. While Poseidon said the high prices offered were a factor, he would not be drawn on specific levels. However, traders in the market estimated January ’07 Baseload power in Greece to be around EUR 70.00-75.00/MWh, considering that the Serbian contract is valued at EUR 72.00-72.50/MWh. Despite these high prices, shortages in the region have led traders to estimate the value of cross-border transmission capacity for January could be as low as zero. One stated: “It should be very cheap on the border because there’s not enough electricity in the region.” Unlike neighbouring Albania, PPC does not face a shortage of electricity supply; it has previously been cheaper to import rather than to use more expensive Peaks generation. Greece has imported from both the Balkans and via the 500 MW interconnector with Italy. While Italian power is the most expensive in Europe, Balkan price levels have began to converge. For this year, Poseidon said: “Instead of importing Baseload from the Balkans, we could selectively import to cover Peaks.” State-owned PPC produces 95% of Greece’s power; approximately 45% of its 12.2 GW of installed capacity is lignite-fired. Other forms of thermal generation are more costly than lignite, and potential investors have been unable to secure financing. Earlier this month, Austria’s Verbund announced that it was investing EUR 400 million in a gas-fired power plant, proclaiming itself “the first to challenge the local monopolists,” according to Verbund’s general director Hans Haider. For most of the year, Greece has exported power to Italy, with some power imported to cover Peaks during the summer. This will continue, although Greece’s export capability has diminished due to a lack of investment in new generation. Poseidon said: “Building new power plants is not for sufficiency, it’s for cost. If you don’t build new generation, you need the least efficient plants to be operating for more hours.” The main exporters in the region, Bulgaria and Romania, face problems next year, particularly with two 440 MW units of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant closing when Bulgaria joins the EU at the start of 2007. According to the Bulgarian Cabinet’s press service, the units would be disconnected from the grid on 31st December. However, this has hit some in the region harder than others. Unlike last year, Greece is exporting to Albania, which faces daily electricity blackouts. The country’s power utility KESH has agreed power exchange agreements with PPC, as well as regional specialist EFT and Slovenia’s Istrabenz Gorenje, totaling 3.2 GWh. Albania will import during December and January, and export the same amount during June and July. (THE HEREN REPORTS - EDEM 10249 / 22 December 2006) |
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