New bill of law to support 2 GW of battery storage in Greece

The Greek government is preparing a plan to continue supportting battery storage investments.

The first two auctions for standalone projects have been completed and a third will take place later this year. Altogether they are supporting the installation of the first 1 GW of battery storage in the country.

Some of the investments are already in the licensing or construction phase. However, the deadline for their completion is the end of 2025 and so far the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) has not issued the connection terms to the majority of the projects. It caused concerns in the sector and a solution is needed soon.

As for residential space, 920.55 MW of photovoltaics was installed in the country in the first half of this year, according to the Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic Companies (HELAPCO). Out of a total of 8,250 new systems, 4,817 include batteries.

Multiple measures to facilitate storage

A new draft bill of law that was submitted for public consultation last week contains incentives for the installation of batteries in existing solar farms and for standalone battery units in decommissioned conventional power plants.

The goal here is to add 1.5 GW to 2 GW in total in batteries, while 500 MW more would be installed through a support program for businesses in the near future. Total battery capacity is projected to reach around 3.5 GW before 2030.

In the upcoming bill, solar farms connected to the grid after July 4, 2019, would be eligible, as would projects that have or will acquire connection terms by February 15, 2025.

The battery’s capacity is envisaged to be remunerated at a level equal to the wholesale price between 17:00 and 7:00 each day in the winter semester, and from 20:00 to 7:00 in the summer semester. During the rest of the day, the payment would be equal to the feed-in tariff for photovoltaics.

Multiple solar farms with a common connection point to the grid will also be able to obtain state aid, according to the proposal. Investors interested in building battery units without public support would benefit from a simplified licensing procedure.

Last but not least, owners of conventional power plants decommissioned since January will be able to change production certificates to standalone storage licenses for the remainder of their duration, the draft reads.