Renewables

Mitsotakis unveils solar buildup to lower Greek farmers’ energy costs

Mitsotakis announces solar buildup to help Greek farmers reduce energy cost

Photo: Prime Minister's Office

Published

February 2, 2024

Country

Comments

comments icon

1

Share

Published:

February 2, 2024

Country:

Comments:

comments icon

1

Share

Farmers increased the intensity of their protests in Greece, forcing the government to announce measures to reduce their energy costs.

Initially, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s cabinet was reluctant to exempt farmers for another year from the special tax normally imposed on diesel. However, he caved as a result of public pressure. One more extraordinary measure to reduce energy costs is a 10% discount on their power tariffs during the summer months.

Also included in the new package are plans to incentivize a buildup of renewable energy installations.

The Apollo program aims to help municipalities and irrigation organizations install photovoltaics and offset some of the energy costs for vulnerable consumers. Special auctions are envisaged for such projects that are set to be installed within two years.

Mitsotakis: We secured more space in the electricity grid

Furthermore, a new program, Photovoltaics in Fields, is aimed at individual farmers who want to invest in solar power. The Ministry of Environment and Energy said the space reserved in the grid for them is rising to 6 MW per substation from 3 MW. The upper capacity limit would be raised to 50 kW from 10kW.

“Obviously, I spoke first with HEDNO [Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator] and PPC to increase available grid space for these projects”, Mitsotakis told the Hellenic Parliament. PPC is Public Power Corp., the country’s flagship power utility.

According to the prime minister, farming associations will have their energy costs cut by 30% for a decade with subsidies for photovoltaics with batteries, with power purchase agreements (PPAs).

Invest in renewables, don’t count on subsidies to reduce energy cost

Overall, the government is sending a message to farmers to invest in renewables to permanently lower the cost of energy. Given the budgetary constraints, the exemption from the diesel tax and the reduced power tariffs cannot continue indefinitely.

In view of Greece’s high solar potential and renewables being the cheapest source of electricity, expanding them is a must in all sectors of the economy. Farmers were called to modernize their business models and become active participants in the energy transition.

Comments (1)
paul rooney / May 18, 2024

farmers actualy need a better deal than this for investing im pv technology or windpower
as a better rate structure for produced power
and existing signed agreements need to be honoured before other farmers can consider signing up as no one wants to invest without
a garantee of being paid i know greece has money troubles but some farmers are starting to get cold feet about going green many unable to even pay the hydro bill

Enter Your Comment
Please wait... Please fill in the required fields. There seems to be an error, please refresh the page and try again. Your comment has been sent.

Related Articles

Electrica green bonds start building two large PV plants

Electrica to issue green bonds, start building two large PV plants

14 November 2024 - Electrica's shareholders voted to raise up to EUR 500 million through green bonds, take a EUR 623 million loan and begin building two solar power plants

Serbia adopts new regulations for second round of RES auctions

Serbia adopts new regulations for second round of RES auctions

14 November 2024 - The Government of Serbia completed the regulatory framework for the second round of auctions for wind and solar power projects

Masdar Albania KESH deal renewables joint venture

Masdar, Albania’s KESH ink deal on renewables joint venture

14 November 2024 - Masdar and state-owned power utility KESH are exploring the development of gigawatt-scale green energy projects in Albania

serbia law on energy changes

Government of Serbia adopts changes to Law on Energy

13 November 2024 - The Government of Serbia adopted the changes to the Law on Energy and sent them to the National Assembly for a vote