The Greek government announced a plan to reduce electricity prices for final consumers by 30% in the next three years.
As prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said during the Thessaloniki International Fair, this is one of the top priorities, given the fact that consecutive energy crises affect households and businesses.
Total funding is expected to reach EUR 5 billion, of which EUR 2.3 billion will come from the Islands Decarbonization Fund, EUR 600 million from the EU’s fiscal escape clause and the rest from the Social Climate Fund.
Battery installation to accelerate
The government aims to achieve this goal through multiple measures and interventions. In total, six seperate domains are identified with potential gains.
The first is renewable energy, where development is set to continue under the new spatial plan. So far, installations have mostly focused on photovoltaics, which earlier in the summer reached the national 2030 goal 3.5 years earlier, with 13.8 GW.
Energy storage is the main area
However, energy storage is the main area where the new plan focuses on.
The goal is set at 5-7 GW of operational batteries by the end of this decade, with 3-4 GW by 2028 as an interim objective.
So far, EUR 400 million have been channeled through the Resilience and Recovery Fund (RRF), while the Social Climate Fund will provide another EUR 200 million.
Renewables with storage on islands
Small businesses, municipalities, large renewable plants and standalone projects will each receive EUR 50 million. In the last two categories competitive auctions will take place.
When it comes to the Greek islands, EUR 1.1 billion will support electricity interconnections, EUR 200 million are for dams and dual use water reservoirs, while EUR 56 million will be provided for electric car charging.
Renewable energy plants combined with storage will receive EUR 970 million, with a goal of installing 316 MW of solar and 295 MW of batteries in the islands.
Reduction of the so-called common benefit surcharge
Another development is the reduction of the so-called common benefit surcharge that currently stands at about 3-4% of the total power bill.
Its purpose is to distribute the extra cost of power production in non-connected islands to all consumers.
This measure will cost EUR 200 million and will be funded by the state budget.
Green heating solutions to replace fossil fuels
In energy saving, the social climate fund will provide EUR 2.1 billion for home upgrades, the installation of 32,000 heat pumps and 68,000 solar heaters.
Seperately, 10,000 households in Western Macedonia and Megalopolis will be able to receive EUR 50 million in total for the same upgrades, as well as rooftop solar systems.
Free energy saving certificates will be given to 200,000 households. Moreover, 780,000 beneficiaries will be subsidized for their heating bill to protect them from rising costs as a result of the European Trading System’s expansion to include this sector from 2028.
Two previous programs concerning public buildings and schools were not completed in time under the RRF and will now proceed under new funding.
A new page for self-consumption
Last but not least, the ministry will shortly present the new framework for self-consumption.
The goal here is to simplify rules, allow for the use of microsolar systems of up to 800 W and enact collective self-consumption in blocks of flats.
It also focuses on the use of standalone batteries without injection to the grid.
Reduction of power theft and arrears
In the retail segment, smart meter rollout is supposed to curb consumer arrears, which reached EUR 3 billion last year.
These new meters will also be used to combat energy theft that costs EUR 450 million annually.
Mitsotakis: Renewables keep prices 19% lower than EU average
“We are able to do all these things because we invested in renewable energy and in island interconnections. This policy, despite what some people say, already keeps power prices 19% lower than the European average,” said Mitsotakis, while describing his government’s overall energy policy.
His statements come at a time when power prices have been rising across the continent.
During the first week of September, wholesale electricity reached levels of over EUR 150 per MWh across many countries, especially in Southeast Europe.
It is the result of higher natural gas prices, drought and limited interconnections.
