The Secretary General of the C.E. of AKEL, Stefanos Stefanou, in a letter sent yesterday to the President of the Republic, requests a meeting with him to discuss the serious risks for the country's energy security, as a result of the delay in the arrival of natural gas and the situation facing AEK.
The letter reads as follows:
"The delay in the arrival of natural gas is causing various problems and high costs in electricity generation.
The decision of the Council of Ministers that natural gas would be available for electricity generation from 1 January 2020 has not been implemented. DEFA subsequently announced that the arrival of natural gas would be achieved in the summer of 2023. Now we see reports in the press that there may be further delays and that the company contracted to build the vessel on which the LNG will be regasified (FSRU) is requesting additional multi-millions of euros to complete the project.
The long delay in the arrival of natural gas for electricity generation, together with the major problems faced by AEK, raise, in our view, major issues for the country's energy security, as well as unsustainable costs for the consumer. It should be noted that for two years now the bill for the transformation of DEFA into a Public Law Organization, which is a necessary condition for the introduction of natural gas for electricity generation, has been pending.
The structural problems at AHK put it in an unfavourable position in view of the full operation of the competitive market, the full launch of which is expected next autumn. The understaffing of AHK, the untimely filling of a number of managerial positions, the delay in the modernisation of the production units, the need to strengthen and maintain the transmission and distribution networks pose serious risks to the energy security of our country.
Moreover, the failure of AHK to get involved in renewable energy sources, the obstacles placed in this direction by other state bodies and the actions unfortunately taken to exclude the Authority from energy storage undermine the ability of AHK to operate successfully in the competitive market for the benefit of consumers.
The long delay in the arrival of natural gas is estimated to cost approximately seventy million euros annually, at the expense of consumers.
We would request a meeting with you to discuss this matter.
We look forward to your positive response.
Yours sincerely,
Stefanos Stefanou
General Secretary of KE AKEL"
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