Procedures are underway for clearing a backlog of renewable energy source permits issued for projects that now stand no chance of being actualized, Energy Press portal said. Idle applications are being eliminated through a process based on legislation that demands banking guarantees worth the equivalent of respective projects from applicants.
At the same time, Hedno (Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator) has launched a clean-up mission of its own for roof-mounted photovoltaic systems. It is preparing to give older applicants one month to resubmit their applications as a sign of genuine interest. Otherwise, their applications will be shelved to make way for a new wave of interest being expressed by individuals and enterprises seeking to capitalize on a newly introduced net metering legal framework, the report said. The net metering plan will enable electricity consumers who generate their own power from an eligible on-site facility and deliver it to local distribution facilities, to offset the electric energy provided by the utility during an applicable billing period.
A total of 1,665 applications for roof-mounted photovoltaic systems with a total capacity of 14.32 MW had been submitted until the end of September 2013, the most recent date for which Hedno’s data is available. The older applications for household photovoltaic systems, now sitting idly and saturating capacity limits, are blocking entrepreneurial photovoltaic interest on islands with major tourism activity, the Energypress.eu report said.
Meanwhile, despite promising energy cost-cutting benefits for the agricultural sector, as has been pointed out by specialized studies, the implementation of photovoltaic systems through net metering procedures is being obstructed by law. A legislative amendment made in 2011 does not permit photovoltaic system installations for land placed under a high-productivity category. The amendment, made to settle issues concerning land transfers in high-production areas, unintentionally affected the sector.
