September is expected to see the unveiling of the new package of measures by the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MEP) for the faster penetration of energy storage systems into the Greek electricity system. The promoted arrangements, presented by “To Vima”, are estimated to pave the way for the immediate development of the necessary projects to ensure security of supply, without throwing away thousands of megawatt hours of “green” solar and wind energy.
The uncontrolled penetration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) into the country’s power system often leads to a “heart attack” in the power system – especially every spring and fall when clean power generation is high and demand is low – and if storage units are not developed quickly, the energy cuts year after year will become more intense, especially from 2026 onwards. According to estimates, at the end of 2024 it is predicted that the annual cuts will reach 5% of the annual energy produced, while the following year they are expected to double.
Storing unused energy in addition to securing the electrical system and ensuring the sustainability of RES investments will also lead to lower electricity prices for households and businesses. Today in the domestic market the only units that offer storage services are PPC’s pumped storage stations, with a capacity of approximately 0.7 GW (gigawatts), as there are still no battery storage projects in operation, although the “bar” in the revised National Plan for of Energy and Climate (ESEK) has been set at 6.07 GW for 2030 (batteries and pumping), a target that increases gradually and reaches 17.478 GW in 2050.
Storing unused energy, in addition to the security of the electrical system, will also lead to lower electricity prices for households and businesses
1
Conversion of conventional power generation units to storage
To achieve the goals, the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has “locked in” the key legislative arrangements as well as the plan for the next competitive procedures that will promote investments in energy storage. In particular, the new legislative initiatives will provide for the possibility to remain in force and to convert into storage permits the production permits of power plants with fossil fuels (i.e. gas and lignite), which are connected to the National Electricity Transmission System of ADMIE but have ceased to function as of 1 January 2024 or will cease to function in the future. Their modification by the Waste, Energy and Water Regulatory Authority (RAAEF) will be an absolute priority, as will any other modifications to the licensing required. The total capacity of the final tenders for connection to the electricity system for the installation of these storage units will reach 450 MW – with a ceiling of 150 MW (megawatts) for each investor.
2
Adding accumulators to existing RES stations
The second change promoted by the Ministry of Energy to promote energy storage concerns existing solar parks, which will be given a deadline of March 14, 2025 to submit a request to add accumulators. Condition to operate from July 4, 2019 onwards, having secured an operating aid (tariff) or to have received a Final Offer for Connection to the distribution network or electricity transmission system by February 15, 2025. The useful capacity of the electricity storage systems that will be added should be equal to at least one hour to the maximum energy injection power of the corresponding photovoltaic plant. For example, in a 10 MW PV the minimum battery capacity should be 10 MWh (megawatt hours). And in this case, the necessary project modifications (Producer Certificates, Environmental Terms Approval Decisions, etc.) for the addition of accumulators will be examined by the competent services as an absolute priority.
The batteries are proposed to be charged during the midday hours when PV production peaks and are often cut and lost while selling the energy they accumulate in the evening at high wholesale market prices (ie not at the guaranteed PV ‘tariff’). In particular, according to the latest draft of the regulation prepared by the Ministry of Energy, photovoltaic plants will be compensated – based on the hourly price of the next day’s market and the prices of the other markets in the Greek Energy Exchange – for the energy they inject into the grid after at 5 pm and until 7 am the following day during the winter season (November 1 – March 31). In the summer season (April 1st – October 31st) they will be able to sell the energy accumulated by the batteries after 8pm and until 7am the following day.
The uncontrolled penetration of Renewable Energy Sources into the country’s electricity system often leads to a “heart attack” of the system, especially every spring and autumn, when net electricity generation is high and demand is low
3
Addition accumulators in RES clusters
Photovoltaic unit owners, who have a common connection point to the electrical grid or system (so-called clusters), will be given the opportunity to submit a joint request to the competent Administrator (DEDDIE or ADMIE) for the installation of an individual storage station by mid-March energy (standalone). This will be connected to the common point and will have a useful capacity at least equal to one hour in the sum of the maximum production power of the photovoltaic parks of the common demand.
In fact, the specific request will be able to be submitted by a third party investor (outside the cluster) who should have a storage license with a connection offer to the common connection point, providing a relevant agreement with the owners of the photovoltaic projects. The specific storage units will participate in the electricity markets to sell the energy they will accumulate.
4
Promoting the installation of electricity storage stations
However, the order of priority for the examination of the multitude of requests for the granting of Final Offers for Connection to the electricity system for the installation of individual electricity storage stations will not be specified in the new regulations but will be determined later by a decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. With a decision that will be issued by mid-October, all the details will be defined (beneficiaries of application submission, procedure, supporting documents, the total installed capacity of the standalones that will receive connection conditions, their technical characteristics, their geographical distribution, etc.) . Also, by mid-autumn, another ministerial decision will be issued that will define the order of selection of the individual electricity storage stations that will receive a Final Connection Offer, which will not receive operating aid for the electricity they produce.
The storage units that will be selected to receive a Final Connection Offer will be evaluated by the relevant Operator alongside RES projects, hybrid stations in the Non-Interconnected Islands and Crete, as well as the storage units boosted through a competitive bidding process. The Final Connection Offer will be granted within four months from the submission of the request.
After all these details are determined by ministerial decisions, the Ministry of the Interior plans to invite investors for the development of storage units with a total capacity of approximately 1.5 – 2 GW (gigawatts), without the granting of investment and operational support. Through their participation, each will ensure the development of projects, with a power of approximately 13% of the total power of standalone batteries that will benefit from the licensing incentives that will be provided by the decisions that will be issued during the autumn. Today, the pending requests for battery connection terms reach approximately 17.6 GW, while the rain of requests continues to RAAEF, in addition to the 888 projects, with a total capacity of 43.8 GW that have already secured the relevant producer license.
The last tender for state aided storage projects
At the same time, the Waste, Energy and Water Regulatory Authority (RAAEF) will normally hold the third tender for 300 MW of storage projects, which will be held with the remaining funds of the Recovery Fund (the first two have already been held). It will be the last to grant investment and operating aid, so a huge turnout is expected. It concerns projects that will be installed in the de-lignitized areas of Western Macedonia and Megalopolis as well as in the Region of Eastern Macedonia-Thrace.
RES that have already started the process to integrate an electricity storage unit in order to get priority for connection to the electricity system, based on the proposed regulations, will be able to change exclusively to electricity storage stations, maintaining the priority, at the request of the owners of the licenses to RAAE. The certificates, licenses and approvals they have will be modified with absolute priority
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