The second NOME electricity auction of the year by the state-run power company, PPC, is scheduled for Wednesday, coinciding with resumed negotiations in Athens between the government and creditors over the latter's demand for a partial breakup of the utility's power generation capacity.
The NOME mechanism, the French abbreviation for Nouvelle Organisation du Marché de l'Electricité, is an electricity sales auction for electricity capacity to be produced in the future, a processed billed by the EU as making the sector more competitive and less dependent on "dominant providers".
Creditors have clearly stated that they want state-run and listed PPC to sell-off 40 percent of its power generation capacity, primarily lignite-fired units in northern Greece. Creditors repeatedly stated that PPC holds an oligopoly in the domestic electricity market. Another alternative plan circulated this week has the utility considering offering up hydroelectric units for sale.
The auction will be the third overall for PPC, with 145 MWh/h offered to independent providers, which will reportedly total 14. A start price of 37.37 euro per MWh/h has been given.
