A big wave of RES projects planned for development offers an upbeat picture of the sector, but further clarity concerning rules and operating restrictions such as mandatory grid-injection cuts will be needed if investors are to push ahead with plans.
RES projects (wind and PV projects) possessing connection terms yet still undeveloped or at early stages of development are worth 12 billion euros, market officials have estimated.
This prospective turnover figure stands to increase further if new RES projects set to be granted connection terms in return for PPAs established with industrial consumers are also taken into account.
A total of 3,673 RES projects representing a capacity of 12,876 MW (wind energy: 2,567 MW, PVs: 10,309 MW) received connection terms between 2020 and 2023, according to data presented by power grid operator IPTO’s Konstantinos Tsirekis, Director of Strategy & System Development Planning, at an annual event staged recently by POSPIEF, the Pan-Hellenic Federation of Photovoltaic Producer Societies.
This pipeline of prospective RES projects could be stifled if investors lack clarity on grid-injection cut rules as such operating restrictions affect earnings potential of projects, and, by extension, the willingness of banks to finance projects.