Photo: iStock
Greece’s Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water (RAWEW) issued the call for the long-awaited first auction for battery energy storage systems.
It is the first in a series of battery storage auctions scheduled for this year, starting with 400 MW in capacity, and the first competitive process for energy storage in Southeastern Europe.
RAWEW said it set the ceiling at EUR 115,000 per MW per year. The participants will bid for 10-year contracts for difference (CfDs) for earnings from their future battery systems. The selected investors will also gain from grants of EUR 200,000 per MW to build their projects.
Developers are obligated to submit a letter of guarantee for EUR 35,000 per project in order to participate, as well as a letter for EUR 250,000 per MW for its timely completion and EUR 200,000 per MW for the proper operation of their installation.
RAWEW said it would receive bids until July 10 and examine them by August 9.
The regulatory body said the minimum coverage level is 100%. But in case the bids do not cover the offered capacity, the remainder will be transferred to the next auction. Furthermore, a minimum number of four participants has been specified, where no project can exceed 100 MW.
The battery projects must have a storage license from the regulator, a minimum of 1 MW in planned operating power and the ability to store at least 2 MWh per every megawatt. They are required to be connected to the country’s transmission grid.
The deadline for the selected systems to come online expires at the end of 2025. This year’s auctions benefit from EUR 200 million from the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility and EUR 100 million from the REPowerEU plan.
Timeframe for the next auctions
Greece is planning two more auctions this year. One is set for the third quarter, for 300 MW, plus what capacity remains from the first tender. The third bidding is scheduled to take place in the fourth quarter for 300 MW, bringing the total capacity for storage auctions this year to 1 GW.
In the licensing cycle in April, 23 applications for battery projects were submitted, with hundreds of megawatts in total.
It should be noted that the Greek electricity system has a high need for storage units to facilitate renewables deployment both in the transmission and the distribution grid, as they are heavily congested. Apart from battery projects, Terna Energy also has two large pumped hydro plants under development in the country pumped hydro plants under development in the country by Terna Energy.
Be the first one to comment on this article.