Greece will temporarily suspend electricity imports from Bulgaria, Albania, North Macedonia and Turkey during the upcoming Easter weekend, in a coordinated effort to safeguard its national grid. The restriction will be in place daily from 8 AM to 3 PM, spanning from Friday through Monday.
The measure, organized by the Greek transmission system operator ADMIE and approved by the TSOs of the neighboring countries, is a preemptive response to anticipated grid imbalances caused by a combination of high renewable energy production and low electricity demand during the holiday period.
Without such intervention, the surplus in solar and wind energy—coupled with reduced consumption—could overload the system and lead to outages. By curbing imports, Greece intends to give priority to domestic electricity generation and avoid the curtailment of renewable energy sources, which are often the first to be scaled back in cases of oversupply.
This is not the first time Greece has taken such steps during Easter. However, this year poses a greater challenge, as Orthodox and Catholic Easter fall on the same weekend, limiting the country’s ability to export excess power to its neighbors.
Additionally, ADMIE has directed small renewable energy producers without remote control capabilities to be ready to shut down their installations from 11 AM to 4 PM during the four-day period, further reinforcing efforts to maintain system balance.
