The country’s plan for a competitive procedure to be applied for energy storage unit subsidies needs to be finalized as soon as possible, the European Commission has informed Greece’s energy ministry.

Brussels has called for swift action so that its assessment of the Greek plan can be based on current EU directive criteria concerning state aid in the environment and energy sectors.

Given the fact that these EU directives will be revised as of 2022, the procedure will need to be completed by the end of this year.

If Brussels is to offer its approval of the Greek plan by the end of December, Athens will ideally need to deliver its proposal by the end of this month as a two-month period for any observations and exchange between the two sides will be needed.

According to energypress sources, two auctions each offering energy storage capacities of 350 MW, for an overall total of 700 MW, is seen as the likeliest scenario.

Funds worth 200 million euros are planned to be made available for energy storage support through the national recovery plan, dubbed Greece 2.0. Also taking into account support planned for pumped storage stations, this sum is expected to reach 450 million euros.

The energy ministry’s secretary-general Alexandra Sdoukou recently noted that this sum should provide subsidies covering up to 40 percent of the cost of energy storage projects needed to support the planned increase in RES penetration by 2030.