On the evening of Tuesday, July 30th, the Ministry of Energy submitted an amendment regarding the emergency taxation of electricity producers using natural gas.

According to the amendment, “a special levy is imposed on each allocated unit of electricity production using natural gas in favor of the Energy Transition Fund of Article 61 of Law 4839/2021 (A’ 181)” and it continues, “the levy amounts to ten (10) euros per megawatt-hour of Higher Calorific Value of Natural Gas and is calculated on the amount of natural gas used by each obligated electricity producer for electricity generation.” The amendment specifies that “High-Efficiency Cogeneration of Heat and Power (CHP) units that have entered into an operational support contract under Law 4414/2016 (A’ 149) or an electricity sales contract under Article 12 of Law 3468/2006 (A’ 129) or a corresponding electricity sales contract prior to the enactment of Law 3468/2006 are exempt from this levy.”

A few days ago, the government quickly announced a framework for subsidies on variable-rate household tariffs following the alarming increases in wholesale electricity prices and the reasonable concern that this increase would also affect retail prices for consumers. Businesses were left out of this emergency subsidy scheme, with the government seeking to offset this through the non-obligation of the ETMEAR levy.

Moreover, as the government prepares to announce the subsidy amount at the end of this week, specifically on August 2nd, it is estimated that there will be a broader containment. Companies are expected to absorb a significant portion of the short-term price increases, which are due to external factors, while the state plans to limit the required subsidy amount, reflected in the legislative regulation to be passed by Parliament this week. The government will wait to see all providers’ prices, to be announced on Thursday, August 1st, and will immediately proceed with the intervention.