The Greek government is preparing a plan for emergency situations in the event of a complete and prolonged interruption of the supply of Russian gas.
According to the plan, electricity restrictions on weekdays will target energy-intensive industries that are not producing basic essential goods. However, such a possibility may be ruled out in the near future because a solution has been found to pay for gas to Russia’s Gazprom, but the uncertainty and the scale of the war in Ukraine may still require state interventions that will limit electricity consumption.
In the extreme scenario of the complete interruption of the supply of Russian gas, in the middle of the tourist season, the plan for alternating rotation of electricity outages at intervals during working days will be activated. The goal is not to cut off electricity to households, businesses on the low-voltage network, or hotels and critical public infrastructure such as hospitals, but to energy-intensive industry and companies connected to mid-voltage network which are producing non-essential goods.
The Greek Government is also considering the return of working from home to save energy in companies, as well as recommendations for reducing the use of cars for road transport. In addition, the Government is taking measures that include preventive energy savings by limiting the use of air conditioners and lighting.
As one of the measures, it was decided to rent a tanker ship for storage of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for 12 months, that will be moored at existing terminal at Revythoussa near Athens. At the same time, the operation of coalmines has ben intensified so that same of the closed lignite-fired power plants could be reactivated in case of need.
