According to official estimates, there will be a 60% increase in new renewable energy capacity connected to the electricity grid this year compared to last year, while interest in the construction of new units remains undiminished and is growing. According to relevant sources at the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA), applications for the construction of wind and photovoltaic power plants exceed not only the targets set by the EU but also the technical capacity of the Greek system. For this reason, measures are being considered (such as the submission of a letter of guarantee from prospective investors, certifying their interest and ability to implement the investment) in order to record investment interest on a more realistic basis. According to estimates by the Renewable Energy Sources and Guarantees of Origin Administrator (DAPEEP), new power units with a capacity of 1,601 megawatts (640 MW wind, 932 MW photovoltaic, 10 MW small hydroelectric, 15 MW biomass, and 2 MW combined heat and power). In 2020, around 1,000 megawatts were connected, while the total installed capacity of RES at the end of the previous year was 7,100 megawatts.
According to market sources, the projects that will be included this year are mainly those that were selected in the Energy Regulatory Authority's tenders in previous years. These tenders, which will gradually be extended to small units that are currently compensated at higher prices, will ensure that the cost of developing «green» energy is kept down, as interested parties participate in competitive bidding for the sale price of energy to the grid. energy development costs, as interested parties participate in competitive bidding for the sale price of energy to the grid.
Indicative of the interest is that:
-During the application cycle for producer certificates (the first stage in the implementation of investments), 477 applications with a total capacity of 8.86 GW were submitted to RAE in February. Together with the December 2020 cycle, 2,341 applications for projects with a total capacity of 54.36 GW are currently being evaluated by the Authority for the next period.
-Investors showed great interest in renewable energy sources in the latest competitive process announced by the Energy Regulatory Authority for wind and photovoltaic power, respectively, up to 50 and up to 20 megawatts, respectively. Specifically, applications were submitted for 128 projects with a total capacity of 1,092 MW, compared to 350 megawatts, which is the available capacity in the tender, which was exceeded by almost three times.
A key reason for maintaining high investor interest is the consolidation of the special account for financing Renewable Energy Sources (ELAPE) through measures taken last year to reduce costs and increase revenues. In addition, the provision for the payment of €200 million from the Recovery Fund to finance the new generation of RES units (and not to cover deficits from previous years).
Mr. Voutsadakis
