Forced to operate amid stifling conditions prompted by capital controls imposed in Greece in the summer, entrepreneurs in the renewable energy sources sector, presently unable to make progress on new investments and facing permit deadlines, have asked the government to stop the clock and resume the count once the currently abnormal banking restrictions have ended, portal Energy Press said.
Investors are troubled by major liquidity problems, making it impossible for them to import equipment needed to either start or continue developing projects, the article adds. Wind energy projects have been granted two-year permits for completion. Under the current regulations, these permits would cease being valid if projects are not finalized within the allotted time periods. In addition, if permits are nullified, their owners will not have the right to reapply for renewals.
A large number of investors currently find themselves trapped. The capacity of projects affected is estimated to amount to 1 GW. On another front, officials in the sector, as previously reported by Energy Press, have called for an acceleration of inspections by state authorities on projects either completed or in progress in an effort to swiften highly delayed subsidy payments, even if just partial. The subsidies were promised through an older development law.
In some cases, especially in the wind energy sub-sector, projects have been completed and connected to the grid but their investors have neither received subsidies nor had guarantees returned, the article adds. Elsewhere, work on some projects had begun but was then abandoned as a result of the state’s failure to provide the subsidies investors had anticipated, according to Energy Press.
