DAPEEP

RES contract suspension right, enabling PPAs, reexamined

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The details of a formula included in a recent legislative revision, permitting RES project investors to suspend, for two years, their project operating contracts with RES market operator DAPEEP in order to engage in direct market participation or establish PPAs, will be reexamined from scratch by the next government’s new energy minister. The general election’s second round of voting takes place this Sunday.

The previous government’s energy ministry had indicated the two-year suspension right would only apply to RES projects that had not been connected to the grid until the revision’s date of ratification.

Energy ministry officials and other sector authorities remain split on the legislative revision’s specifics. The decision on which approach will be adopted has, as a result, been passed on to the next energy minister.

Once a decision has been reached, a related circular will be forwarded to DAPEEP so that the new formula can be applied.

Advanced negotiations between RES producers and industrial enterprises for the establishment of two-year PPAs have stagnated as a result of the indecision over the legislative revision’s details.

DAPEEP contract suspensions only for new RES projects

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A recent legislative revision made permitting RES investors to temporarily suspend project operating contracts with RES market operator DAPEEP for two years to enable direct market participation or PPAs for these projects specifically concerns, according to the energy ministry, new projects that have not been connected to the grid by the revision’s date of ratification.

RES producers, it has been underlined, will be entitled to make use of this temporary suspension just once, which, in practical terms, means they cannot put on hold operating contracts with the operator for a few months, reactivate them at a latter date and then suspend again.

DAPEEP, the RES market operator, has already prepared a related platform to accept requests by RES investors for two-year suspensions of operating contracts.

The operator intends to launch this platform as soon as it receives an official update from the energy ministry on technical details.

‘PPAs must be registered to secure guarantees of origin’

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Green-energy power purchase agreements (PPAs) will need to be registered with DAPEEP, the RES market operator, in order to secure renewable energy Guarantees of Origin, the operator’s president and CEO Giannis Giarentis has stressed in comments to energypress.

This essentially means that, otherwise, the green origin of electricity quantities supplied by producers to off-takers through bilateral contracts will remain uncertified.

PPAs not entered into the DAPEEP registry and, subsequently, not covered by Guarantees of Origin, will practically result in non-certification of energy derived from renewable energy sources. This would deprive such PPAs of cost-related advantages as they would be no different to bilateral contracts signed between off-takers and thermal plant owners.

The DAPEEP head official’s remarks come at a pivotal time for Greece’s nascent green PPAs market, taking its first steps with a first round of contracts capitalizing on a recently introduced exemption from a wholesale market cap for physical delivery contracts.

 

Operator’s green Guarantees of Origin auction rules nearing approval

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DAPEEP, the RES market operator, is working on a third round of revisions for regulations concerning Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin auctions, which it aims to deliver to RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, for approval by the end of this month, energypress sources have informed.

Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin, providing transparency to consumers on the proportion of electricity that suppliers source from renewable generation, are required of all EU member states.

If RAE approves the plan within June, the country’s first auction offering Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin can be expected to be staged by December as, according to existing law, a first auction must be staged within six months of the plan’s approval.

Two rounds of consultation, one involving RAE and market players, the other RAE and DAPEEP, have already been staged as part of the procedure shaping regulations for Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin auctions.

A new information system to be prepared by DAPEEP for its Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin will link the operator’s platform with the online system of AIB, the Association of Issuing Bodies. DAPEEP is one of 24 AIB members in Europe authorized to issue Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin.

Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin auctions promise to create new conditions in Greece for the establishment of green electricity tariffs for consumers wishing to support the decarbonization of the country’s energy mix.

Top energy sector officials taking part at Power & Gas Forum, March 22-23

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The government’s top-ranked energy sector officials as well as a host of other leading figures from political, institutional, academic and business domains will be talking part in the Power & Gas Forum on March 22 and 23 at the Wyndham Grand Athens Hotel, an event being staged by energypress for a fourth time. Conference speakers and attendees will participate in person.

Speakers at the event will include Greek energy minister Kostas Skrekas; the energy ministry’s secretary-general Alexandra Sdoukou; secretary-general of transport at the ministry of infrastructure and transport Ioannis Xifaras; RAE (Regulatory Authority for Energy) president Athanasios Dagoumas; EFET’s (European Federation of Energy Traders) Jerome Le Page; Tomás Llobet of European Energy Retailers (EER); two former Greek energy ministers, Giannis Maniatis and Giorgos Stathakis; Sokratis Famellos, a member of the main opposition leftist Syriza party; and Haris Doukas of the PASOK-KINAL socialist party.

Other conference participants will include power grid operator IPTO’s chief executive officer Manos Manousakis and his deputy Giannis Margaris; gas grid operator DESFA’s chief executive Maria Rita Galli; RES market operator DAPEEP’s president and CEO Giannis Giarentis; distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO’s chief executive Anastasios Manos; EDEYEP (Hellenic Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources Management Company) president Aristofanis Stefatos; the Hellenic Energy Exchange’s newly appointed CEO Alexandros Papageorgiou; EDA THESS general manager and EDA ATTIKI CEO Leonidas Bakouras; the Greek prime minister’s special adviser for energy Nikos Tsafos; energy ministry adviser Theodoros Tsakiris; and energy markets guru Alex Papalexopoulos.

The academic community will be represented by professors Pantelis Kapros, Stavros Papathanasiou, Pantelis Biskas, Nikolaos Hatziargyriou and Antonis Metaxas.

As always, energy-sector authorities will also participate at the event. They include Loukas Dimitriou (ESAI/HAIPP – Hellenic Association of Independent Power Producers); Antonis Kontoleon (EVIKEN – Association of Industrial Energy Consumers); Giannis Mitropoulos and Miltos Aslanoglou (ESPEN – Greek Energy Suppliers Association); Irodotos Antonopoulos (ESEPIE – Hellenic Association of Electricity Trading & Supply Companies); Panagiotis Lostarakos and Panagiotis Papastamatiou (ELETAEN – Greek Wind Energy Association); Stelios Loumakis (SPEF – Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic Energy Producers); and Stelios Psomas (SEF/HELAPCO – Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic Companies).

Key sector entrpreneurs and executives who have so far confirmed their participation include: Ioannis Kalafatas (Mytilineos); Kyriakos Kofinas (PPC); Nikolaos Zahariadis (Elpedison); Anastasios Lostarakos (NRG); Dinos Nikolaou (Energean); Kostis Sifnaios (Gastrade); Nikolaos Satras (Dioryga Gas); Panos Nikou (Volterra); and Ioannis Kokkotos (ABB).

The forum’s full agenda will be finalized and announced in the coming days.

Energy transition fund to cover DEPA Commercial for LNG cancellations

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DEPA Commercial will be compensated through the energy transition fund for its cancellation of two LNG orders made with TotalEnergies a few months ago as part of the country’s overall effort to bolster energy security ahead of this winter period.

A multi-bill submitted to Parliament yesterday by the energy ministry includes a special revision facilitating this compensation payment to DEPA Commercial, which cancelled two LNG orders submitted to TotalEnergies as a result of a sharp reduction in domestic natural gas consumption.

The legislative revision specifies the compensation payment to DEPA Commercial will be made within a two-month period once all supporting documents have been forwarded by the gas company to DAPEEP, the RES market operator.

The two DEPA Commercial orders were planned for delivery between November, 2022 and March, 2023 as cover in the event of a disruption of Russian gas supply to Greece. But the orders ended up proving excessive given the prevailing conditions.

Deviation cost limit on small-scale PVs with FiTs to be halved

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The energy ministry is planning to halve a cap concerning the balancing cost of small-scale photovoltaic systems operating with feed-in tariffs and balancing responsibilities, energypress sources have informed.

The current level does not permit this cost to exceed charges and overstay disincentives imposed by FOSETEK, the green aggregation representative body.

The energy ministry’s legislative revision, expected soon, will halve the current upper level permitted for these costs. It will primarily concern small-scale photovoltaics with capacities ranging between 400 and 500 KW for which agreements had been signed with DAPEEP, the RES market operator, beyond July 4, 2019, as, during the resulting period, all PV projects with capacities of over 400 KW are required to operate with feed-in-premiums.

According to market officials, a total of approximately 180 PVs operate based on feed-in-tariffs with balancing responsibilities intact.

Meanwhile, the energy ministry plans to temporarily increase reference prices for biomass and biogas units as a result of the energy crisis. The increase, expected to be 25 percent, will concern projects that have signed operational support contracts. The increase will apply until the end of 2023, while an extension through a ministerial decision will be made possible.

 

Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin auctions in first half

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Auctions for Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin, providing transparency to consumers about the proportion of electricity that suppliers source from renewable generation, a scheme required of all EU member states, are planned to be launched in Greece during the first half of the year.

These auctions promise to create new conditions in Greece for the establishment of green electricity tariffs for consumers wishing to support the decarbonization of the country’s energy mix.

RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, has put forth, for consultation, Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin regulations proposed by DAPEEP, the RES market operator. This procedure is scheduled to be completed on January 9.

The authority is expected to have approved the regulations for Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin auctions by the end of this month, thus establishing a comprehensive framework for the creation of a trading system for “green” certificates in Greece.

Country’s solar energy capacity on course to overtake wind energy

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Solar energy units are on course to overtake wind energy as the country’s biggest RES sub-sector, given the growing number of installations of the former and a slowdown of the latter during the first half, latest data provided by DAPEEP, the RES market operator, has shown.

At the current rate, the total capacity of solar energy facilities could, for the first time ever, exceed that of wind energy units in the second half of this year.

At present, the country’s wind energy capacity totals 4,294 MW, solar energy capacity is at 4,173 MW, and roof-mounted photovoltaics are at 371 MW. They are followed by small-scale hydropower units (246 MW), biogas-biomass (99 MW) and cogeneration-combined hear and power (118 MW).

The country’s installed RES capacity increased by 207.4 MW in May, solar energy units being the biggest contributor (153.2 MW), followed by wind energy (51.8 MW), small-scale hydropower units (1.7 MW) and biomass (0.7 MW), the DAPEEP figures showed.

The RES market operator expects renewable energy installations in 2022 to reach 1,900 MW, led by solar energy units (950 MW), and followed by wind energy (910 MW), biomass (15 MW), cogeneration-combined hear and power (15 MW), and small-scale hydropower (10 MW).

Greece’s total installed RES capacity reached 9,300 MW in May, up from 8,500 MW at the beginning of the year, the DAPEEP data showed.

 

August pressure for energy retailers, covering subsidies

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Electricity and gas retailers fear even tougher financial times in August as the government’s increasing levels of energy subsidy support offered to consumers to offset rising wholesale energy prices and keep energy bills serviceable will force suppliers to use greater amounts of company capital for the effort, company officials have told energypress.

Energy suppliers need to commit company capital for customer subsidies in accordance with subsidy support packages announced by the energy ministry before they are reimbursed about a month later via the Energy Transition Fund, once DAPEEP, the RES market operator, has cleared related amounts.

The one-month period elapsing from the time suppliers cover subsidies, at their own cost, to their eventual reimbursement is pushing suppliers to their financial limits.

It should be pointed out, energy suppliers have yet to be reimbursed for subsidies they paid for in June, concerning consumption in May.

Reduced supplier guarantees to operators being examined

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RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, looking for ways to ease the cashflow pressure felt by electricity suppliers in the energy crisis, is considering to reduce the level of guarantees they need to forward to the country’s operators – power grid operator IPTO, RES market operator DAPEEP, and distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO – by revising a formula that determines these guarantee amounts.

However, certain independent, non-vertically integrated electricity suppliers remain apprehensive, fearing such a move could ultimately further increase the market strength of bigger rivals and push smaller players further aside.

At this stage, RAE is involved in talks with the market operators in an effort to determine if leeway exists for a reduction of the guarantees provided by suppliers.

RAE’s Aggeliki Mourtzikou, Director of the Wholesale Energy Markets Department, told the recent energypress Power and Gas Forum that the authority is moving carefully so that any intervention does not result in the creation of deficit figures whose side effects in the market could outweigh any short-term benefits concerning supplier cashflows.

The number of consumers seeking installment-based payment arrangements for energy bills has risen sharply, severely impacting the cashflow of suppliers.

Subsidy returns to power, gas suppliers currently trapped

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A sum estimated at one billion euros, which should, by now, have been transferred by the Greek State to energy suppliers as compensation for subsidies they have offered to households and businesses on its behalf, remains trapped in the coffers of DAPEEP, the RES market operator, as a result of rule ambiguities and errors, sources have claimed in comments to energypress.

This amount, planned to cover subsidy-related payments made by electricity and natural gas suppliers for January, February as well as March, is stuck at DAPEEP as three ministerial decisions issued last month, which define the framework for electricity and gas bill subsidies offered to household consumers, businesses and farmers, as well as subsidy clearance procedures enabling payments to suppliers, contain ambiguities and mistakes, the sources told energypress following its related report on payment delays faced by energy suppliers.

As a result of these ministerial decisions, DAPEEP has been called upon to check whether subsidy amounts covered by suppliers from their own funds on behalf of the Greek State are correct, the sources said.

In essence, the operator has been asked to cross-examine whether consumers who were subsidized were eligible for the support, restricted to primary residence only, and whether other eligible parties ended up not receiving subsidies.

DAPEEP is not in a position to perform this task alone as the RES market operator needs to cross-examine its figures with those of DEDDIE/HEDNO, the distribution network operator, and IPTO, the power grid operator, for which it does not have access, the sources explained.

March power, gas subsidies unchanged, suppliers owed

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The level of state subsidies to be offered to household and business consumers for electricity and natural gas in March will remain unchanged compared to February, a support measure worth 350 million euros for the month, sources have informed.

Energy suppliers have already been informed of the decision, reached by the energy ministry.

As a result, household consumers will receive electricity subsidies worth 39 euros per month for consumption up to 300 kWh, only for primary places of residence.

Low-income households eligible for social residential tariffs (KOT) stand to receive electricity subsidies worth 51 euros per month.

Monthly subsidies for non-household consumers, including businesses, farmers and professionals, will remain at the level of 65 euros.

As for natural gas, household consumers stand to receive state subsidies of 20 euros per MWh plus that much more from the gas company DEPA Commercial. Businesses will receive 20 euros per MWh.

According to sources, energy suppliers have yet to be compensated by DAPEEP, the RES market operator, for subsidies offered in January and February, on behalf of the Greek State. Subsidies offered by the Greek State over the two-month period were worth a total of 700 million euros.

DAPEEP sources have ascertained that the sum owed by the operator to energy suppliers will be covered either late this week or early next week.

This delay has increased the cashflow strain felt be energy suppliers, now facing even greater pressure following last week’s invasion of Ukraine by Russia, a development that has sparked a further rise in energy prices.

Electricity market pushed to its limits by widespread debt woes

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The country’s electricity market is under severe pressure, being pushed to its financial limits by a chain effect of unfavorable events, namely serious cash-flow issues faced by suppliers, increasing overdue amounts owed by thousands of consumers to suppliers, as well as greater surcharge debt owed by the latter to electricity network operators and municipalities.

This concerning picture was presented in detail yesterday by two market operators, distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO and RES market operator DAPEEP, to the board at RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, with energy minister Kostas Skrekas also participating.

Teleconferences were also staged with a number of electricity suppliers for discussions on their delays in relaying surcharges collected through electricity bills to network operators and municipal administrations.

Older surcharge amounts owed by suppliers, up until October, 2020, have led to payback arrangements equally dividing these amounts to letters of guarantees and monthly installments. Most of these commitments are being honored by the suppliers.

However, newer debt issues have emerged through the current energy crisis, beginning last autumn.

According to energypress sources, suppliers owe a total amount of 50 million euros to DAPEEP, a little under 10 million euros to power grid operator IPTO, and over 200 million euros to DEDDIE/HEDNO.

Much of the sum owed to DEDDIE/HEDNO has been covered by letters of guarantee issued by suppliers, following a related revision made by the energy ministry last August.

 

Supplier surcharge relay delays to operators on RAE agenda

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Details of accumulated electricity-bill surcharge payment delays by electricity suppliers to market operators will be examined at a RAE (Regulatory Authority for Energy) board meeting tomorrow to involve the participation of three market operators, distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO, power grid operator IPTO and RES market operator DAPEEP.

The progress of agreements concerning installment-based payments by electricity suppliers to operators for overdue surcharge amounts totaling 347 million euros up until October, 2020 will be on tomorrow’s agenda.

Suppliers owing this surcharge amount have faced penalties for their delays. The suppliers reached agreements to cover 50 percent of surcharge amounts owed with letters of guarantee and settle the remainder through installments over periods ranging from 8 to 10 months.

Besides updates on older surcharge amounts owed by suppliers, the three operators, at tomorrow’s RAE meeting, will also be asked to provide details on more recent unpaid surcharges, especially amounts concerning 2021.

According to RAE officials, a total of 12 electricity suppliers have fallen behind on surcharge payments since October, 2020, leading to an accumulated amount, since that month, of approximately 250 million euros. This figure remains unconfirmed. Tomorrow’s meeting will offer a clearer picture.

In addition, the failure of suppliers to relay municipal-related surcharges, currently worth a total of between 60 and 70 million euros, to municipalities will also be discussed at tomorrow’s RAE board meeting. In some cases, these delays have stretched for periods of up to 18 months.

This issue was discussed at a meeting yesterday between energy minister Kostas Skrekas and representatives of the Central Union of Greek Municipalities (KEDE), who called for a revision that would require electricity suppliers to relay surcharge amounts to municipalities within two months.

 

Subsidies over €1.5bn in ’22, to avoid inflationary pressure

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The government’s electricity bill subsidies in 2022 will exceed a total value of 1.5 billion euros and, besides households and small businesses, also include medium and high-voltage consumers, according to sources.

Government officials, including energy minister Kostas Skrekas, the energy ministry’s secretary-general Alexandra Sdoukou, deputy finance minister Theodoros Skylakakis, RES market operator DAPEEP’s chief executive Giannis Giarentis and Regulatory Authority of Energy (RAE) chief executive Athanasios Dagoumas, have just held a meeting in search of measures offering protection to consumers against exorbitant energy prices, expected to remain elevated in the first few months of the year.

Final details on the new subsidy package for electricity bills are expected to be set within the coming days before it is announced during the first week of January by the energy and finance ministries.

The plan is expected to include a mechanism automatically calculating subsidies for retail electricity, over a one or two-month period, when wholesale electricity prices exceed a certain level.

Besides offering consumers some energy-crisis relief, the support package’s aim will be to help enterprises avoid increasing prices of products and services, which would prompt inflationary pressure, should energy prices not de-escalate in the coming months.

 

Measure to spare suppliers of interest payments to operators

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A legislative revision prepared by the energy ministry will be designed to spare suppliers of having to pay interest on overdue amounts owed to operators as a result of unpaid receivables.

Suppliers will only need to pay interest on overdue amounts owed to operators in cases where court verdicts have ruled for the inclusion of interest payments.

The amendment concerns payments by power suppliers to power grid operator IPTO, distribution network operator DEDDIE/HEDNO and DAPEEP, the RES market operator.

 

PPC cuts operator, contractor debt by €800m in 2 years

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Power utility PPC has settled most of its outstanding debt owed to operators and contractors, reducing the amount from 900 million euros in 2019 to 70 million euros at present, the figure with which the corporation expects to end the year, energypress sources have informed.

During the country’s ten-year recession, prior to the pandemic, PPC’s debt owed to operators and contractors had peaked at nearly one billion euros.

The corporation now owes 50 million euros to contractors and 20 million euros to the three market operators – DAPEEP, the RES market operator; IPTO, the power grid operator; and DEDDIE/HEDNO, the distribution network operator – latest company data has shown, the sources noted.

Besides benefitting PPC, which, for years, was embroiled in a series of legal battles with operators, contractors and equipment suppliers, the debt reduction is also helping offer market stability.

Other suppliers have had difficulties keeping up with payments to operators during the energy crisis and its narrower profit margins. If PPC, the dominant supplier, was also delaying its payments to operators at present, the energy market may have been in an unstable condition.

The total amount currently owed by electricity suppliers to the market operators is estimated at 350 million euros, making PPC’s 20 million-euro owed just a fraction of the sum.

 

RES producers must return extra revenues from FIPs by December 17

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A procedure for the return to DAPEEP, the RES market operator, of extra revenues generated by RES units with feed-in premiums through their participation in the electricity market prior to October, when the market clearing price was above their tariffs, is expected to start today.

According to energypress sources, DAPEEP, in association with banks, has finalized a formula for the return of extra revenues to the RES market operator. It is expected to upload, within the day, related information on the amounts to be returned for extra revenues up until August. Amounts for the other months are expected to be determined within the next few days.

A related energy ministry draft bill set to be ratified will require all extra revenues generated by RES units with feed-in premiums prior to October to be paid by December 17.