IPTO connection term offers reach 3 GW, clear-out needed

Power grid operator IPTO has offered connection terms to new RES projects representing a total capacity of 3 GW since August, when a priority system was implemented to put in line applications submitted as far back as early 2021.

IPTO has moved at a fast rate. The 3-GW capacity in connection terms offered by the operator to RES project applicants over the past four months, following the signing of a related ministerial decision, would have taken an entire year to accumulate not too long ago.

IPTO, market officials estimate, has already covered 44 percent of grid capacity available for green energy priority groups, meaning roughly just 3 GW is still available for prospective projects.

Older RES projects still not developed despite having received connection terms quite some time ago need to be cleared out in order to prevent saturation of the grid’s diminishing capacity, market officials have pointed out, echoing a message delivered by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at September’s Thessaloniki International Fair.

Sector officials estimate the grid’s maximum capacity to be available in 2030 will be 28 GW.