Power consumption in Greece returning to pre-lockdown monthly rates

Greece’s economic activity is ever so gradually returning to normal, as measured by a spike in power consumption, given that most pandemic-related restrictions and lockdowns have ceased or are set to end next week, according to figures announced by the country’s Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMHE).

Specifically, in a monthly power bulletin issued this week, the operator showed a marginal increase of 1.3 percent in power consumption for March 2021, compared to the corresponding month in 2020 – first month of the Covid-19 lockdown.

Last month’s figures were also the first increase after three successive months of slackening power consumption, and only the second monthly hike over the 12-month period from March 2020 to March 2021.

The last time that monthly power consumption was higher came in November 2020, when a 3.1-percent increase from the corresponding month in 2019 was recorded.

Conversely, January 2021 and February 2021 witnessed a substantial decrease in monthly consumption, 9.5 and 6.5 percent, respectively, compared to the corresponding months in early 2020.

On the production side, this figure was higher by 19.9 percent in March 2021, compared with March 2020.

In terms of the retail electricity market in Greece, very little change was reported last month in terms of providers’ market shares, with the one-time state monopoly, Public Power Corp. (PPC), holding 65.1 percent of the sector – the same as the previous month.

Mytilineos group’s Protergia was a distant second with 7.95 percent, albeit up from 7.8 percent in February 2021.

Hron followed with 6.22 percent (down from 6.33 percent in Feb. 2021); Elpedison, 4.83 percent from 4.84 percent; NRG, 3.85 percent from 3.88 percent; and finally, Watt & Volt, 2.6 percent from 2.69 percent in February 2021.