A law amendment for Greece’s transitional CAT mechanism, planned to remunerate flexible electricity capacity from the date of ratification to December 31, 2019, has been submitted to Greek Parliament by the energy ministry.

Flexible power capacity providers such as gas-fired power plants and flexible hydro plants will be eligible for remuneration through the mechanism, as will combined heat and power (CHP) stations for capacities not already compensated by RES and CHP support mechanisms.

The CAT mechanism remunerating flexible electricity capacity has been divided into two periods, the first to run until March 31, 2019 and the second to expire on December 31, 2019. This time distinction has been made as the second period will run concurrently with the balancing market.

The amendment submitted to parliament also offers a description of the competitive procedure through which production units will be chosen for flexibility mechanism remuneration.

Flexibility auction participants will need to bid for capacities of at least one MW, while a starting price of 39 euros per KWh will be set. A total capacity of 4,500 MW will be remunerated through the flexibility mechanism. The first auction is planned to take place no later than September 30, 2018.

The European Commission has just approved Greece’s transitional CAT mechanism model planned to remunerate flexible electricity capacity, it announced earlier this week.