RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, needs to present a schedule to the European Commission for the staging of tenders concerning new RES facility installations by the end of November, based on the country’s new RES legal framework and bailout-related requirements.

Despite being behind schedule at present, the target date remains valid. Once the legal framework is endorsed in Brussels, officials will need to push to meet the target date for the staging of the first pilot tender for PV systems, scheduled for December 12. The results and conclusions of this initial effort will be utilized for future actions in other RES sub-sectors.

According to energypress sources, a tender will not be staged for small-scale hydropower units.

Investments that qualified for fast-track procedures in the past, hybrid projects, as well as major grid-linked projects will also be handled as separate sub-categories.

At this stage, wind-energy sector investors are hoping for swift progress as a large number of mature and licensed projects are on stand-by waiting for conditions to clear up before the next steps steps are taken.

As energypress has previously reported, major and smaller sector firms, primarily Greek, are eagerly awaiting ministerial decisions to determine the shape of contracts to be demanded by LAGIE, the Electricity Market Operator responsible for the operation of the wholesale electricity market, or HEDNO, the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator.

Then, investors who have already signed connection contracts will also need to sign new agreements for feed in premiums before launching construction of their projects as of next year.