ATHENS/BRUSSELS, Sept 13 (Askume) – Greece’s prime minister called on the European Union to urgently respond to rising electricity prices in central and eastern Europe, which Athens said were causing a crisis.The result of the Russian attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure .
In a letter to the European Commission seen by Askume, Kyriakos Mitsotakis called on Brussels to create an EU-wide regulator with powers to oversight EU energy markets and urged the commission to establish a regulatory framework between countries to support cross-border infrastructure projects.
Electricity prices in Greece doubled from 60 euros/MWh in April to 130 euros/MWh in August, the letter said.
“We are unable to clearly explain to our citizens why the prices they have to pay have suddenly increased. This is politically unacceptable,” the letter said.
Mitsotakis attributed the price hike to factors such as rising temperatures this summer, disruptions to power infrastructure and the drying up of hydroelectric reservoirs due to climate change-induced drought, which has also hit countries such as Romania and Bulgaria.
But he said an additional burden came from Ukraine, which is becoming increasingly dependent on electricity imported from other European countries. Ukrainian officials say there will be Russian attacks this yearHalf of the country’s power generation capacity has been destroyed.
The EU agreed last year to upgrade its electricity market rules to encourage more fixed-price contracts with power producers and protect consumers from energy market fluctuations.
But electricity prices in Europe – even in countries where local renewable energy generation is growing rapidly – are still often linked to natural gas power plants, leading to potentially large fluctuations in fuel market prices.
Differences in interconnection capacity between countries and congestion on local power grids can also drive up prices.
“The new committee should work to further strengthen cross-border capabilities,” Mitsotakis said.
By the EU’s own estimates, it will need to invest 584 billion euros this decade to upgrade its grid to repair decades-old infrastructure and ensure the grid can handle a larger share of renewable energy.
The letter was first reported by the Financial Times.
