Apollo

Energy ministry bill addresses range of climate change issues

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An energy ministry draft bill just forwarded for consultation includes a wide range of interventions addressing water management; forest management and protection; urban resilience and policy; unauthorized construction; and energy security.

Initiatives included in the bill, forwarded as a package addressing the wider impact of climate change in the aforementioned areas, include Apollo, a support package reducing energy cost for low-income households, as well as public buildings and installations.

The initiatives also include tough measures aimed to combat rising electricity theft, including loss of professional licenses for electricians found to be complicit.

RES projects participating in auctions for feed-in tariffs will face greater grid-injection restrictions and will be required to incorporate energy storage systems.

Also, small-scale PVs will need to go to auction for their feed-in tariffs as of May 1, 2024. Until now, this group of PVs has been entitled to administratively set tariffs.

Furthermore, under the new proposals, EDEYEP, the Hellenic Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources Management Company, will be able to participate in SPVs for wind studies at offshore areas marked out for a first wave of offshore wind farms.

 

Ministry multi-bill filled with energy sector initiatives

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An energy ministry multi-bill to be forwarded for consultation imminently, possibly this Friday, following numerous revisions, includes at least twenty energy-sector provisions.

These include a new legal framework for boosting grid capacity; Apollo, a 20-year RES support program envisaged to offer solar-energy output to low-income households and local government organizations; a revision facilitating a new combined heat and power (CHP) plant planned by power utility PPC at a former lignite-fired facility in Kardia, northern Greece; an SVP for floating solar farms as a pilot project, beginning with 10 MW at sea and 8 MW in lakes and reservoirs; as well as an SVP for the development of offshore wind farms, an effort overseen by EDEYEP, the Hellenic Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources Management Company.

The multi-bill also includes pending issues announced last year, such as a new electricity theft framework; and a revised universal electricity supply service – currently offered by the top five electricity suppliers, based on market share, as a last-resort service to non-punctual consumers who have been blacklisted by suppliers – to be limited to four months.

Gov’t solar energy plan aims to cut farmers’ energy costs

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The energy ministry is preparing a solar-energy support program for farmers that would reduce their energy costs by offsetting consumption.

This initiative will either be integrated into the Apollo initiative – a 20-year RES support program envisaged to offer solar-energy output to low-income households, local government organizations, as well as public drainage and municipal water supply and sewerage companies – or a second Apollo program will be established specifically for farmers.

Officials remain undecided as to which of these two options will be preferred, sources informed.

As part of the strategy, energy consumption levels of farmers in all of Greece’s administrative regions will be analyzed to determine regional solar-energy needs.

Separate auctions will be staged for each administrative region to offer participants 20-year tariffs as part of their virtual net-billing arrangements.

The eventual energy-cost support scheme for farmers is expected to be included in a wider package of support measures being prepared by the government as farmers continue mobilizations in various parts of the country over high production costs and reimbursements.

Apollo RES program, offering tariffs for 1.1 GW, now closer

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The energy ministry has prepared a legislative revision needed to launch Apollo, a 20-year RES support program envisaged to offer solar-energy output to low-income households, local government organizations, as well as public drainage and municipal water supply and sewerage companies, deputy energy minister Alexandra Sdoukou has announced.

The energy ministry has already begun work on shaping the consumption profiles and energy needs of prospective beneficiaries in order to dimension required RES units needed for the support program, the deputy minister noted.

The program’s objective is to cover, with renewable energy, 90 percent of the energy needs of low-income households with renewable energy, and 50 percent of the energy needs of local government organizations, public drainage and municipal water supply and sewerage companies.

According to an early estimate, an overall RES quantity of 1.1 GW will be needed to achieve the Apollo support program’s objective.

Besides its significant social-support aspect, the Apollo program also promises to propel a considerable number of RES projects still under development. By securing remuneration, these pending projects will have cleared a crucial final hurdle needed for their commercial launch.

The program also promises to enhance grid-capacity preservation through increased energy storage.

Participating RES projects will qualify for the Apollo program through thirteen RES auctions, one for each of the country’s thirteen administrative regions.

Apollo RES support program an opportunity for 1.1 GW in PVs

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Solar energy system investors are expressing strong interest to participate in Apollo, a 20-year RES support program presented early this month by the energy ministry and envisaged to offer RES output to low-income households, local government organizations, as well as public drainage and municipal water supply and sewerage companies.

This program has generated investor interest as it is expected to provide a development outlet for RES projects with a total capacity of 1.1 GW. It will also enhance grid-capacity preservation.

At present, roughly 8 GW in wind and solar energy projects with finalized connection offers have yet to secure tariffs for sale of output to the energy market. This shortcoming is creating financing obstacles for investors as banks hesitate to extend loans to customers without steady revenues. If they do decide to offer loans under such high-risk circumstances, interest rates are set extremely high.

Through the Apollo program, investors would succeed in derisking, or hedging risk, as the program is practically like signing a 20-year bilateral contract with the state as an off-taker.

The program also promises to boost new RES capacity, which, without Apollo, would be limited to the capacity offered by the approved RES licensing procedure, foreseeing 2 GW in new projects by 2025.

However, questions remain as to whether measures will be introduced to offset the program’s cost for the RES special account.

 

PPC planning equity capital increase, big funds involved

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Power utility PPC will proceed with a 750 million-euro equity capital increase, effectively a partial privatization coming twenty years after a previous round at the bourse that will result in a decrease of privatization fund TAIPED’s current stake in the company from 51 percent to 34 percent.

The company administration’s step back for a minority share, plus management, aims to maximize the participation of foreign institutional investors, who, along with local investors, are expected to easily cover the equity capital increase’s financial demands.

US, British and northern European funds are among the interested parties, private talks held over the past six months, at least, have indicated, energypress sources informed.

Blackrock, EBRD, Fidelity, Apollo, Carmignac, Twenty Four AM, Bluecrest, Pictet, Union Investments, Sona Asset Management, Barings, Aperture, Saba Capital and Vontobel are funds that could be involved, it is believed.

The equity capital increase paves the way for the influx of capital that will contribute to PPC’s 8.4 billion-euro investment plan until 2026, currently ranked as the most ambitious in the Greek market.

Besides the installation of RES units with a total capacity of 8.1 GW, PPC also aims to branch out into the Balkans, beginning with projects in Romania and Bulgaria.

Romania’s RES market is growing at an annual rate of 8 percent, the country’s objective being to reach an installed capacity of 6 GW by 2030. Bulgaria’s RES market is growing at an even greater rate, 15 percent. The neighboring country’s objective is to have installed a further 3 GW by 2030.

PPC bond issue, ESG-linked, attracts top international funds

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Some of the world’s biggest investors are among the foreign institutional investors who participated in power utility PPC’s recent bond issue as well as a supplementary issue staged yesterday, through which the corporation raised a grand total of 775 million euros.

Participants included US fund Blackrock, managing capital worth nearly 8 trillion dollars, fellow American fund Fidelity, whose portfolio is worth 440 billion dollars, the UK’s Apollo, managing 455 billion dollars, and France’s Pictet, with an investment portfolio worth 689 billion dollars.

The turnout for PPC’s bond issues was dominated by real-money investors, or institutional investors handling enormous amounts of cash reserves for long-term investments in companies with solid prospects. Their clients are chiefly retirement funds as well as corporations looking to the future.

Information made available until now on PPC’s bond issues indicates that 70 percent of subscribers were from abroad and 30 percent domestic. Among the foreign investors, half are institutional and real-economy investors, many of these cross-Atlantic.

US and European investors participated in the issues with shares of close to 50 percent each, while investors from Australia and Asia represented about 5 percent of subscriptions.

PPC’s initial bond issue raised 650 million euros at a borrowing rate of 3.875 percent, while yesterday’s follow-up issue raised an additional 125 million euros at 3.67 percent.

Bond issues linked with ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) terms, as was the case with PPC’s two issues, are in high demand, internationally.

Through its issues, five-year bonds maturing in 2026, PPC has committed to a 40 percent reduction of CO2 emissions, from 23.1 million tons in 2019 to 13.9 million tons by 2022. If this target is not achieved, 50 basis points will be added to the yield.