The Administrator of Renewable Energy Sources and Guarantees of Origin – Dapeep has said 101 municipalities received compensation for the first half of last year. The sum, which came in at EUR 5.8 million in total, is paid to local authorities with installed power plants that use renewable sources.

There are 325 municipalities in Greece. Head of Dapeep Yiannis Yarentis said the institution is at the forefront of the national effort to further increase the share of green energy and that the role of municipalities is important. The message to the communities is that they can only profit from boosting the capacity for energy from renewables, he added in the statement carried by domestic media outlets.

The chief of the public utility offtaker told Dimitris Papastergiou, president of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece or KEDE, the priority is to secure the payments. The entity formerly known as Lagie agreed to cooperate with the association with the aim to maximize the benefits from having renewable energy systems.

The law stipulates that green electricity producers excluding those with rooftop units and selfgeneration installations pay 3% of the power sales price before value-added tax to the market operator.

Dapeep then directs one percentage point of the collected money to beneficiary municipalities as an item intended for household consumers within their administrative boundaries. Another 1.7 points is paid to local authorities exclusively for environmental action, development and social support. The remaining 0.3-point chunk is allocated to the Special Fund for the Implementation of City Master Plans and Town Plans or ETERPS, also a green facility.