A total of 20,134 natural gas customers, representing 4.18 % of 481,838 customers in total, switched their supplier in 2019, according to a report published by Greek Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE).
Such high mobility asserts the Greek retail gas market’s increased level of competition less than three years since its liberalization. In 2018, when the country’s retail gas market was liberalized, 7,611 customers of 441,330 in total, or 1.72 %, switched gas suppliers. Thus, the number of consumers switching supplier in 2019 rose by 164 % compared to 2018.
Commercial consumers registered the greatest level of mobility, followed by household customers and industrial customers, both in terms of gas amounts used and number of supply connections.
The supplier switching rate in the household category was 4.12 % in 2019, up from 1.69 % in 2018. In commercial category, 5.72 % of consumers switched suppliers in 2019, up from 2.41 % in 2018. On the other hand, supplier switching in the industrial customer category dropped to 3.17 % in 2019 from 8.78 % in 2018.
In numbers, 19,180 household consumers of 465,018 in total changed gas suppliers in 2019. In commercial category, 944 of 16,505 made switches to new suppliers last year, while in industrial category, 10 of 315 customers moved to new gas suppliers in 2019.
Despite the increased level of customer mobility, two suppliers, Zenith and Fysiko Aerio, remained dominant, capturing market shares of 65.51 % and 25.76 %, respectively, in terms of number of connections. The duo is followed by Mytilineos (2.85 %), Elpedison (2.05 %) and NRG (1.16 %).However, market shares differ when based on gas volume. Under these terms, Zenith’s share was 35.95 % in 2019, while Fysiko Aerio held a 31.13 % share. They were followed by PPC (5.96 %), Mytilineos (5.44 %), Heron (5.25 %), Elpedison (5.21 %) and DEPA (3.51 %).
