The level of participation at a forthcoming RES auction announced by RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, for December 12 will be subdued and not cover capacities to be offered for wind and solar energy projects, market officials have forecast.

Strong investment interest for the renewable energy sector expressed in recent months is, for the time being, not expected to be followed up with action.

The subdued level of auction participation expected is linked to project maturation issues, sector officials explained to energypress.

Major license issuance delays encountered by wind energy park investors  resulted in a bottleneck of mature projects for previous auctions, leaving few projects for the upcoming December session.

The need to simplify RES licensing procedures in Greece is a key matter at present. RAE has already proposed framework revisions, while the energy ministry has established a committee tasked with delivering proposals by the end of the year for swifter RES project development.

As for solar energy projects, the priority offered to energy communities in securing connection terms with HEDNO, the electricity distribution network operator, stands as the sub-sector’s major issue at present. This has affected the ability of privately-owned solar parks from securing their grid connection terms, which, in turn, has stifled development and prevented auction participation.

The current RES framework no longer reflects the sector’s needs and is certainly not aligned with the government’s intention of setting more ambitious national RES targets and facilitating sector investments, energypress sources stressed.