Greece cancels third energy storage auction

Greece’s third auction for standalone energy storage plants using batteries is cancelled. The Regulatory Authority for Energy, Waste and Water (RAEWW or RAAEY) said it would renew the call.

The bidding was scheduled to take place this month. RAEWW said it wants to ensure transparency and fair competition before relaunching the procedure.

It explained that companies weren’t able to fully understand a rule on the maximum capacity per participant and per investment.

The regulatory body said the documents and letters of guarantee already submitted would still be valid when it repeats the call.

This third round was for a total capacity of 200 MW with a storage duration of four hours, providing a total of 800 MWh. The facilities would be installed in the Western Macedonia region in northern Greece and in the municipalities of Megalopolis, Tripoli, Gortynia and Oichalia in the Peloponnese.

RAEWW has set the grant for auction winners at EUR 200,000 per MW, while the offer price ceiling was EUR 145,000 per MW per year.

First storage projects delayed

Total capacity through all three auctions is expected to reach 900 MW. The country needs the energy storage units as soon as possible to keep renewable energy curtailments at acceptable levels. So far this year, the curtailments have reached 3.7% and are expected to rise further in 2025.

The cancellation adds to fears of delays for Greece’s first battery systems. The projects selected during the first and second auctions are facing problems as a result of the network operator’s slow licensing process. Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO or, in Greek, Admie) claims it is the result of a careful consideration of the system’s needs and not a byproduct of red tape.

The deadline for the commissioning of the first projects is the end of 2025, so an extension of a few months is possible.

Projects selected through the third auction were supposed to commence operations by January 31, 2026. It remains to be seen whether the date will be pushed back to help the investors.