Any reduction of the RES-supporting ETMEAR surcharge paid by consumers through electricity bills must be handled with surgical precision once all RES special account calculations have been finalized to determine its consolidated surplus figure, green energy market officials have stressed to the government. Market officials dread new deficits in the future that would affect payments to producers.

Energy ministry officials have forecast increased inflow for the RES special account and a surplus level of up to 200 million euros, as a result of increased CO2 emission right costs, but the net amount of this inflow remains unclear.

“Under no circumstances can we create a new problem after having solved a previous one,” one market source stressed.

The RES special account’s net surplus in April and May was revised downwards to 101 million euros, while the end-of-year surplus forecast has now slipped to 184 million euros, following the deduction of 70 million euros, kept aside as a safety net.

This emergency fund is required by law to prevent a repeat of record deficit figures that had plagued the renewable energy sector between 2012 and 2014.