Power consumers to pay for lack of coordination in gas supply

Greece's natural gas network is facing a crisis stemming from the lack of coordination and communication between the competent authorities, at a time when it has to meet record demand for power production and gas supply for heating due to the prolonged cold weather.

A chain of failed estimates and wrong decisions by the authorities responsible for the country's supply has resulted in a technical crisis that can only be overcome through setting the system to Type 2 emergency mode. This is likely to happen on Wednesday or Thursday, when the system will run out of gas, and switching to emergency procedures is the only way, according to the regulations in place, for the quantities put aside for emergencies to enter the market. There would not have been any problem with supply now had it not been for the order to set aside gas quantities for contingency purposes as of Wednesday.<...