ELETAEN, the Greek Wind Energy Association, has reiterated its support for changing the RES-supporting ETMEAR surcharge included in electricity bills from a regulated to competitive component of pricing policy.

The association has supported this view over the past decade or so, along with other renewable energy sector officials.

ELETAEN general manager Panagiotis Papastamatiou, responding to a related question at a news conference, noted that the ETMEAR section concerning new projects could be incorporated into the competitive fees of suppliers.

Full or partial incorporation of the ETMEAR surcharge into the competitive pricing policy of energy suppliers would automate the determination of required RES special account revenues, meaning they would be adjusted by market forces without the need for state intervention, ELETAEN supports.

“We want to avoid the situation of the energy ministry having to take on an accounting role each time, calculating RES special account revenues,” ELETAEN president Panagiotis Ladakakos.

According to ELETAEN, at present, Greece’s new wind farms are generating electricity at a greatly reduced cost that is three to four times lower than the cost of natural gas-fueled electricity production and two to three times lower than the cost of lignite-based output.

Had the ETMEAR surcharge already been incorporated as a competitive component in the pricing policy of suppliers, this lower-cost green energy would have been passed on to consumers, ELETAEN supports.