RES-supporting supplier surcharge ‘compatible with target model’

The existing RES-supporting supplier surcharge can stand as a compatible part of the target model envisioning market coupling, or harmonization of EU wholesale markets, SPEF, the Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic Energy Producers, supports in a technical analysis.

The association has forwarded this analysis to energy minister Giorgos Stathakis, his secretary general Mihalis Veriopoulos, and RAE (Regulatory Authority for Energy) president Nikos Boulaxis.

SPEF, in the analysis, proposes a series of steps that may enable the continued implementation of the supplier surcharge amid the prospective market coupling environment.

The supplier surcharge is a necessary and fair measure in view of national RES penetration targets, along with the need for improved RES sector investment conditions, a prerequisite for the national economy as a whole, according to the SPEF study.

“Objectively speaking, we see no need for the abolishment of the supplier surcharge as a result of the target model’s market coupling plan, nor do we see any need for the implementation of an alternative measure as a replacement,” the study notes.

The RES-supporting supplier surcharge’s removal would take the country back to an era of catastrophic market distortions at the cost of the RES sector and the RES special account, the study warns, adding that suppliers would benefit and consumers would be burdened as they would subsequently face heavier RES-supporting ETMEAR surcharges.