Greek-Turkish power linkup

Agreement provides for exchanges of up to 200 MW of electricity between the neighbors over next two years

Turkey has agreed to supply Greece with up to 200 megawatts of electricity this summer as part of a two-year energy exchange agreement between the two neighbors, Greece’s Development Ministry said yesterday.

The deal, signed in Istanbul by Development Minister Christos Folias and his Turkish counterpart Mehmet Hilmi Guler, provides for Greece importing power during summer months and exporting it back to Turkey in the winter.

“With this method, the needs of the systems in both countries will be met,” the Development Ministry said in a statement.

Greece’s electricity network has hooked up with five of the country’s neighbors in recent years to help meet rising demand for power.

During the warm summer months, Greece imports electricity from Italy, Bulgaria and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and is a power exporter, mainly to Albania, when demand on the domestic grid drops.

The threat of a power blackout in Greece is common during summer as rising demand often pushes the system to its limits.

During the last few days – even though the country did not experience excessively high temperatures – demand remained high at over 10,000 MW, levels only seen during heat waves last year.

The National Power Strategy Council had warned the government in April that the country was likely to suffer energy shortages until 2010 due to demand exceeding supply.

Greece and Turkey started exchanging electricity last year but on a limited scale. The power link connects Nea Santa in northeastern Greece’s Thrace with Babaeski in Turkey.

“This deal is proof that there is very great potential for the countries to work together,” said the Greek minister.

Yesterday’s deal is the second energy agreement concluded between Greece and Turkey after the launch of a pipeline between the two neighbors that transports natural gas from the Caspian region to Western Europe.

Present at the signing ceremony was Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.