Pospief, the affiliation of photo voltaic producers in Greece, says that about 1 GW of put in PV tasks are nonetheless ready to hook up with the grid. The Greek distribution system can’t accommodate new, small PV capability, aside from net-metering tasks.
Greece’s licensing insurance policies are sturdy in idea, with set deadlines to be revered by state establishments and renewable power buyers. The brand new laws (Regulation 4951/2022) is designed to hurry up the licensing course of for renewables much more, in order that inexperienced tasks might be absolutely licensed inside a couple of yr.
A transparent course of applies to small photo voltaic farms that want to hook up with the grid. Traders begin by making use of for a grid connection license from Greece’s grid distribution operator, HEDNO. The appliance should embrace letters of assure from monetary establishments.
If the grid connection request is absolutely documented, HEDNO points a preliminary license inside 4 months, detailing all of the phrases and circumstances of the contract. Traders have two months to simply accept or reject these phrases and circumstances. If the investor agrees, HEDNO will signal a ultimate grid connection settlement inside 4 months, permitting the undertaking to be linked to the grid.
Nonetheless, Pospief Common Secretary Petros Tsikouras mentioned pv journal that these time scales have been by no means revered by HEDNO. He famous that it typically takes as much as 12 months to course of grid connection requests, though it ought to be executed inside 4 months, for instance.
Tsikouras mentioned that the state of affairs turns into worse on the finish of the method, after the buyers have accepted the phrases and circumstances of the license, when a undertaking is absolutely constructed and the connection to the grid continues to be pending. HEDNO is normally sluggish, so buyers are left with varied monetary burdens, similar to financial institution loans, for a number of months. In the meantime, their accomplished photo voltaic tasks stay offline, with no income.
Tsikouras mentioned that these final delays particularly might be simply resolved if the Greek authorities stopped defending the function of HEDNO within the grid connection course of for brand spanking new tasks. As a consequence of HEDNO’s failure to satisfy the set time frames, Pospief referred to as for buyers to be allowed to construct their very own grid connection strains. Nonetheless, the Greek authorities confirmed the whole monopoly of HEDNO in points associated to grid connections in 2020.
“HEDNO normally subcontracts building corporations that join our photo voltaic farms to the grid,” Tsikouras mentioned. “However they can not do it in a well timed method whereas this monopoly is opposite to the credentials of the free financial system that the federal government says it promotes.”
Underneath-construction tasks of lower than 500 kW in dimension ready to be linked to the grid are at all times liable to dropping the secure feed-in tariff (FIT) charges offered by Greece, mentioned pv journal beforehand reported. Tsikouras mentioned that small PV vegetation have been capable of safe secure FITs by December 31, 2022, so long as they’re linked to the grid throughout the set deadlines. Nonetheless, HEDNO is commonly unable to attach such tasks to the grid in a well timed method, so the federal government got here to the rescue by permitting offline tasks to retain their FIT charges if they’re verified. that they have been in-built time, added Tsikouras.
Other than net-metered arrays and group power tasks, Greece’s small PV sector is dying, Tsikouras mentioned. The present authorities and the earlier administration have executed nothing to broaden the grid infrastructure for renewable power. There may be little out there grid capability at present for extra small vegetation, aside from these already licensed and awaiting grid connection.
HEDNO doesn’t even settle for new requests to attach vegetation to the grid and this isn’t set to vary any time quickly. The one exception to that is net-metering installations and group power tasks, the place HEDNO has launched about 2.5 GW of grid house. The transmission system operator additionally allocates grid house to attach massive utility-scale tasks.
Nonetheless, Tsikouras mentioned builders and buyers have been calling for grid enlargement for years, however the authorities has by no means listened. Except grid operators broaden their grid infrastructure quickly, renewable power is not going to broaden in any significant means in Greece. Vitality storage applied sciences could present different options, however the authorities’s plan to run power storage tenders in 2021 has failed. The nation just isn’t anticipated to launch new storage tenders earlier than the top of the yr, both.
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