Electricity suppliers will most likely need to contribute to help cover the RES special account deficit expected at the end of 2020 judging by remarks made yesterday by energy minister Costis Hatzidakis, who ruled out any possibility of increased input into this account by consumers through higher RES-supporting ETMEAR surcharge payments.

An energy ministry request for RES special account support through the EU recovery fund has little chance of being approved, sources informed.

The energy ministry needs to reach a decision on any ETMEAR surcharge level revisions by the end of the year. A neutral decision, neither raising nor lowering consumer payments, is now anticipated.

An end-of-year RES special account deficit, considered a certainty, will need to be covered so that payments to RES producers can continue without misadventure.

Ministry sources said tools used to tackle similar conditions in the past will be reapplied.

In the not-too-distant past, local authorities had adopted a supplier surcharge to cover previous RES special account deficits before the tool was eventually rejected by the European Commission – once payments to RES producers were back in order.

According to forecasts by DAPEEP, the RES market operator, the RES special account will end the year with a deficit of 224.4 million euros, including a 70 million-euro safety reserve.