Greece preparing for rolling power outages if Russia cuts off gas

In an extreme scenario where the flow of Russian gas completely stops, Greece will impose rotating blackouts for energy-intensive industries and companies connected to the medium-voltage network. Households, small firms, hotels and the production of food and other necessities would be spared.

The Greek government is preparing an emergency plan to save energy in the event of a complete and prolonged interruption of Russian gas supplies, Ta Nea reported. DEPA Commercial, the country’s biggest gas importer, has paid Gazprom for last month’s deliveries of the fossil fuel, so there is no imminent threat.

According to the news outlet’s unnamed sources, the plan involves measures to cut electricity consumption and travel regardless of the risk of a halt in Russian gas flows. In the extreme scenario, particularly at the height of the tourist season, rolling power outages would be introduced on workdays.

Restrictions to be introduced for air conditioning, power consumption in public sector

The idea is to limit the electricity supply for energy-intensive and heavy industries and the companies in the medium-voltage network that are not in the supply chain for basic necessities like food. It means households, small firms, the accommodation sector, hospitals and critical public infrastructure wouldn’t be affected.

The minimum allowed temperature in public buildings this summer will be 26 to 27 degrees Celsius

The government is set to recommend the return to remote work and a decrease in road travel by cars, the article adds. Based on a model applied by Italy, Greece intends to limit the use of air conditioners, lights and electrical appliances in public buildings, the people familiar with the matter said. The minimum temperature should be 26 to 27 degrees Celsius in the summer, while in the winter the rooms won’t be allowed to be warmer than 19 to 20 degrees, the newspaper learned.

Greece to take LNG tanker on lease

The Ministry of Environment and Energy and other relevant institutions are planning to accelerate the replacement of light bulbs with energy-efficient solutions. Greece decided to rent a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker for 12 months to boost its storage capacity. The government targets a 50% increase in lignite production this year.

As part of its REPowerEU package for achieving independence from Russian fossil fuels as soon as possible, the European Commission called on member states to update contingency plans, cut consumption and increase the reverse gas flow capacities from west to east by the next winter. In a spirit of solidarity, the least affected countries could reduce gas demand to the benefit of the member states that are the most affected by shortages, the European Union’s executive body pointed out.