ESIAPE: IPTO’s RES grid injection cut plan deviates from EU rules

A set of rules proposed by power grid operator IPTO on RES unit injection cuts concerning the Greek electricity system deviates from European regulations and practices followed in other European countries, according to ESIAPE, the Greek Association of Renewable Energy Source Electricity Producers.

Expressing its views in related consultation staged by RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, ESIAPE noted that Greece’s regulatory framework does not provide for any compensation when RES unit grid injection cuts are ordered, which runs contrary to regulations and practices followed by other European countries.

The current regulatory framework in Greece creates conditions that lead to potential distortions of competition, ESIAPE noted.

In its intervention, ESIAPE offered, as a comparison, detailed presentations of practices followed by five other European countries – France, Germany, UK, Spain and Italy – all offering compensation for RES unit grid injection cuts, when requested by authorities, to prevent grid overloading.

Grid-injection limit proposals for RES, storage units face opposition

Renewable energy associations and producers, taking part in a consultation procedure staged by RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, have rejected a proposal for universal grid-injection restrictions on RES facilities and energy storage units, instead calling for a plan offering greater flexibility.

ESIAPE, the Greek Association of Renewable Energy Source Electricity Producers, rejected a proposal for grid-injection restrictions, noting their imposition would come as an outdated and unsubstantiated move. The association has proposed more focused, demand-related restrictions, rather than universal ones, as the only viable solution that would minimize the loss of RES production.

The Mytilineos energy group also sees definite advantages in focused, demand-related restrictions as they could be applied in real time as well as on a localized basis.

SEF/HELAPCO, the Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic Companies, was one of many consultation participants who also spoke out against proposed universal, permanent grid-injection restrictions on energy storage units.

The association noted these restrictions would impact the financial feasibility of energy storage systems, adding that, by definition, these systems are meant to optimize grid infrastructure and the network and should not face restrictions.

 

Grant Thornton Hellas developing Greek offshore wind farm framework

Business adviser Grant Thornton Hellas, commissioned and funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, has taken on the development of an institutional, legal and regulatory framework for offshore wind farms in Greece, in support of an overall effort being made by the energy ministry, energypress sources have informed.

Grant Thornton Hellas has already received an assortment of proposals, including on spatial and licensing matters, from interested parties, among them ELETAEN (Greek Wind Energy Association), ESIAPE (Greek Association of Renewable Energy Source Electricity Producers), EDEY (Greek Hydrocarbon Management Company), and IPTO (power grid operator).

Grant Thornton Hellas intends to also examine frameworks developed by other countries for their offshore wind farm sectors.

The energy ministry is striving to finalize the Greek framework’s key sections by June, as has been announced by ministry officials, or, at the very latest, within the summer, ahead of legislative procedures by the government.

A high-level plan, the framework’s nucleus, is planned to be completed within May so that legislative procedures can take place in June, sources said.

To serve as a road map, the high-level plan will need to provide details on: the selection criteria to be applied when choosing offshore areas to host initial projects; licensing steps for investors; the agency to be given responsibility of the licensing and project maturity processes; and the timing of auctions for tariffs.

 

NECP lacks detail on network upgrade for RES penetration, producers note

The new National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), presented yesterday at an energy ministry event hosted by the Bank of Greece, is not clear enough on details concerning the development of networks and interconnections for further RES penetration, electricity producers have noted.

Network upgrades will be pivotal in the country’s effort to achieve RES targets concerning the replacement of conventional power stations with clean-energy units, producers have stressed.

More details on technical matters and scheduling for network upgrades are necessary, industry officials believe.

Giorgos Peristeris, the chief official at ESIAPE, the Greek Association of Renewable Energy Source Electricity Producers, and Dinos Benroubi, president of ESAI/HAIPP, the Hellenic Association of Independent Power Producers, both noted procedures concerning the development of electricity transmission projects, especially licensing, need to be accelerated.

Greece’s installed RES capacity in 2030 has been set at 15 GW, up from approximately 6 GW at present.

Power grid operator IPTO has repeatedly assured it is pushing ahead with studies assessing the needs of the grid based on the NECP’s ambitious RES targets, noting all required projects will be included in its ten-year investment plan covering 2021 to 2030.

IPTO possesses both the technical and financial requirements to develop projects needed, the operator’s administration has stressed.

RES sector growth a top priority for new energy minister

Further and swifter renewable energy growth is a top priority for the newly appointed energy minister Costis Hatzidakis, as he made clear at the ministry’s handover ceremony earlier this week.

The Prime Minister-elect Kyriakos Mitsotakis has also ranked the RES sector as a top priority in instructions forwarded to his energy minister.

In the lead-up to last weekend’s elections, highly ranked RES sector officials complained that the current level of bureaucracy and other administrative obstacles were stifling renewable energy plans.

Citing related studies, Giorgos Peristeris, president at ESIAPE, the Greek Association of Renewable Energy Source Electricity Producers, warned that investment plans worth 8.5 billion euros for renewable energy, energy storage and grid interconnection projects are in danger of not being executed as a result of the bureaucracy.

Panagiotis Ladakakos, the chief official at ELETAEN, the Greek Wind Energy Association, has also complained of high levels of bureaucracy troubling the RES sector.

The accumulation of problems created by slow licensing procedures at RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, as well as slow court decisions and environmental approvals for projects, can end up delaying projects by as many as 20 years, officials have noted. This is a major disincentive for foreign investors otherwise interested in the Greek market, they added.

RES targets, sector investments of €8.5bn at risk, officials warn

Greece needs to move swiftly to simplify renewable energy licensing procedures, ratify energy storage regulations and push ahead with electricity grid interconnections, especially the Dodecanese project, if RES objectives set for 2020 is are to be met and investments made, two key RES sector associations have stressed.

An objective aiming for RES-generated energy consumption of 40 percent by 2020 will be difficult to achieve, officials of ESIAPE, the Greek Association of Renewable Energy Source Electricity Producers, and ELETAEN, the Greek Wind Energy Association, have highlighted at a news conference.

RES-generated electricity represented 26.5 percent of total consumption in 2018, they noted.

Major bureaucratic issues continue to plague the sector despite significant steps taken both at an international level and locally, through the implementation of new terms, the respective chiefs of ESIAPE and ELETAEN, Giorgos Peristeris and Panagiotis Ladakakos, pointed out.

RES storage and grid interconnections investments worth 8.5 billion euros and planned for over the next five years, according to a related study, are in danger of not been executed, Peristeris warned. These promise to provide a 1.5 percent GDP boost, the ESIAPE president added.

 

 

 

RES measures needed now to avoid issues, association warns

A series of RES sector measures must urgently be legislated and not held back by any pre-election obstacles, otherwise the sector faces a serious risk of devastation, ESIAPE, the Greek Association of Renewable Energy Source Electricity Producers, has warned.

The revisions required include granting deadline extensions for grid connections concerning new RES stations that have submitted installation license applications, the association noted.

Also, connection agreements need to be signed for RES projects that have been completed but whose agreements have remained pending as a result of procedural delays at power grid operator IPTO, ESIAPE noted.

Legislative revisions are also needed to enable the induction of RES producers into the Day Ahead Schedule; permit biomass and biogas electricity production; and to extend work contracts of scientists employed at RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, set to expire on June 30, to ensure the authority’s ability to function properly, crucial for the RES sector, ESIAPE pointed out.