A draft bill for further RES licensing simplification, set for consultation within the next few days, carries revisions that will aim to shorten the time required by investors to obtain RES licenses to 14 months from five years at present.

Energy minister Kostas Skrekas is determined to simplify the RES licensing procedure to facilitate a total of 12 GW in licenses needed for renewable energy projects to meet National Energy and Climate objectives set for 2030.

As part of the plan to hasten the RES licensing procedure, the total number of steps will be reduced from seven to five. Also, applications lodged will be filtered to eliminate bids lacking serious intentions, while non-binding connection term offers will be scrapped.

The simplified licensing procedure will also spare investors from needing to resubmit supporting documents more than once, to various agencies, as has been the case until now.

In addition, the energy ministry will establish a one-stop service center enabling applicants to monitor the progress of their licensing applications.