Net metering for farmers expected by end of August

An amendment for a virtual net metering plan concerning agricultural and livestock farmers, promising major electricity cost savings, is expected to be published in the government gazette by mid-August, signaling the measure’s launch.

The initiative will enable farmers to install photovoltaic systems with respective 20-KW capacities for electricity production. Electricity costs in the primary sector reach as much as 40 percent of total costs.

Through the net metering plan, electricity amounts generated by farmer PV facilities will be supplied to the grid and then offset annually against the cost of power supplied by PPC, the main power utility.

According to Kostas Spanoulis, president of the Panhellenic Farming Photovoltaics Association, talks have taken place in an effort to offer agricultural and livestock farmers reasonably priced PV systems, at levels of around 20,000 euros.

Spanoulis said this investment amount could be amortized within three to four years, essentially offering farmers free electricity from then on amid 25-year contracts to be offered by PPC for net metering arrangements.

The association’s chief said the measure promises to offer an incentive for young agricultural and livestock farmers.