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The Greek government announced that it will introduce tax breaks for companies, exploring and extracting gas and crude oil from the Aegean Sea. Greece's ambitions to benefit from its fuel reserves have been on the agenda for many years and it seems that the present government has decided, under the pressure of the economic crisis, to take more concrete steps in this direction.

The news was announced by the Deputy Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change Yannis Maniatis. He said a new bill is being prepared to establish a specialized body for exploring hydrocarbon deposits and that the range of the areas available for exploring will be expanded. Their aim is to provide the country with economic and geopolitical advantages that will bring resources and strategic investments.

The bill for the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline comes on the agenda, which will amend the rules for the establishment of the three new companies for natural gas distribution, reported Imerisia. The new distribution companies will operate in eastern Macedonia, Central Macedonia and mainland Greece.

A serious revival of the Greek energy market, which until now has been dominated by the public sector, is expected in 2011. The partial privatization of the Public Power Corporation DEI is a part of the liberalization of the Greek economy too. It has monopoly on the domestic electricity market now, but according to the Memorandum of Financial Support and the boards of the supervisory Troika, the partial privatization of the Public Power Corporation would bring substantial revenue into the treasury in the long term.

The initial plan of the Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change Tina Birbili to open the energy market is reported as unsatisfactory. Independent power producers think that the bill on the reforms in this sector does not clearly define their position on the market.

Another weak point in the bill is the guaranteed independence of the new company ADESMIE Inc, which will manage the power distribution in the country. ADESMIE Inc is a joint venture, entirely owned by the state, and was established to take over the management and operation of the distribution network outside the control of the electric company. The aim is for the company to grant the concession of the distribution network of the electric company in the future as part of the market liberalization plan.

At the same time, early in the year Greece declared its strong ambition to be a factor in the production of electricity from renewable sources. This week, the German Ambassador in Athens Ronald Wegner said that his country wants to become a strategic partner in building the largest photovoltaic park in the world, which will produce 200 MW of clean energy in the city of Kozani. The solar project is expected to become the pattern for the development of renewable energy and to boost employment based on the green economy.