Ambitious projects will be on hold for some time, due to the risk of Greece exiting from the eurozone, EurActiv and Reuters said in a report.
Two sources said at least four major solar and wind projects had stalled. Decisions to invest are on hold as there is too much risk, according to one, while the other expressed doubt that investors will start projects any time soon, even with an agreement between the government and the creditors. The country’s target is to meet 40% of its electricity demand from renewables by 2020.
Frost & Sullivan forecasts the fall in investments would result in share of power generated from renewable energy sources reaching no more than 20%. The government in Athens changed the support scheme in 2012 and wound back a lot of the incentives for renewable energy, said Jonathan Robinson, the research consulting firm’s principal consultant. The state has been cutting incentives for years, just like other countries hit by financial crisis, according to sources quoted in the report. Time is needed to get back any confidence, says Virginia Murray, partner with law firm Watson Farley & Williams, adding that investors would be certain the crisis had passed in at least three to six months.
