KEMKE

Ministry, RAAEY, IPTO discuss grid-connection cost coverage

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Officials of the energy ministry, RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, and power grid operator IPTO held a meeting yesterday to discuss details concerning a ministry plan requiring electricity producers (RES producers, gas-fueled power stations) to cover half the amount of their grid connection costs.

The focus of the meeting was on IPTO as distribution network-related amounts, which concern DEDDIE/HEDNO, the distribution network operator, are minimal.

RAAEY officials reiterated concerns that the energy ministry’s formula could force IPTO to significantly increase network usage surcharges.

However, according to the ministry, a formula requiring grid users to cover 50 percent of grid connection costs does require further examination as this approach may end up being regarded as incorporating state aid and could trigger complaints to the European Commission, which has not approved the plan.

The energy ministry will submit a related enquiry to KEMKE, the finance ministry’s Central State Aid Unit. Should this agency deem that the energy ministry’s formula represents a form of state aid, the ministry could inform Brussels for clarity on whether its plan breaches EU law.

New RES support framework, featuring changes, imminent

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The energy ministry appears to have taken initiatives intended to increase capacity quantities offered at RES auctions and also retain national control over the determination of these quantities, depending on developments, given the more ambitious National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) for the installation of a greater number of RES units, reflecting loftier EU goals, energypress sources have informed.

A draft detailing the new RES support framework for Greece has been finalized following talks between the energy ministry officials and European Commission officials and is now in the hands of the finance ministry’s Central State Aid Unit (KEMKE), responsible for the framework’s official implementation, expected in a few days.

Considerable changes have been made to an initial plan announced by former energy minister Kostis Hatzidakis, not only in terms of the number of auctions to be staged and capacities offered, but also in terms of its overall principles, sources noted.

The new framework makes no mention of an initial Greek proposal for six auctions, each offering 350 MW, for a total of 2.1 GW, but it does call for a capacity of at least 3 GW.

It also includes provisions for geographically based auctions covering areas such as Crete, Evia and the Cyclades, as well as special procedures for small-scale PVs.

In addition, the auctions will not need to be held by 2023 but will be extended until 2025, based on EU directives.

Through the new RES support framework, wind and solar farm energy investors will, through competitive procedures, secure feed-in tariffs for twenty-year periods.