Wind energy policy in Greece
General
In Greece the most important contribution to renewable energy regards the generation of electricity by large hydropower. The country has been an early mover in solar thermal energy, and is still among the countries with a high penetration of solar thermal.
The Greek Renewable Energy Source Act (Law 3468/2006) is in place as of 2006, focusing on simplification of the permitting system for the RES investments in Greece, and also the definition of electricity feed-in-tariffs system, applicable for the sales of RES-produced electricity to the grid. The tariffs are adjusted annually for inflation and/or increases in retail electricity prices
Next to the system of feed-in tariffs renewable energy projects may be financially supported in the framework of the National Development Law 3522/2006, through tax exemptions or direct project subsidies (ranging form 34% to 55% and up to a maximum of 20 million euro).
Special point of attention is the hybrid system for the storage of RES produced electricity in the non-interconnected islands.
According to the draft Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources the target for the share of energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy in the year 2020 for Greece is 18% (in the year 2005 the share was 6.9%) (European Parliament legislative resolution of 17 December 2008).
On June 4th 2010 Law L3851/2010 (OG A/85 on "Accelerating the development of RES to deal with climate change and other regulations") came into effect, in which the Greek government committed to a renewable energy share of 20% in fianal energy consumption instead of the 18% as set by the Directive.
Renewable energy projections according to the National Renewable Energy Action Plan for Greece
The National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) for Greece was submitted in July 2010. The target according to Annex I of Directive 2009/28/EC is 18% for the year 2020 and the projected NREAP share in that year exactly matches the target. According to the projection, the most important contribution in the year 2020 is expected from wind power (16.8 TWh or 1444 ktoe, 33% of all renewable energy). Second important contribution is expected from biomass (renewable heating and cooling) (1222 ktoe, 28% of all renewable energy). The third largest contribution is from hydropower (6.6 TWh or 565 ktoe, 13% of all renewable energy). Wind power contributes in the year 2020 with onshore wind (7.2 GW and 16.1 TWh) and offshore wind (0.3 GW and 0.7 TWh). For solar photovoltaic the 2020 contribution is projected to be 2.2 GW (2.9 TWh). For solar thermal the 2020 contribution is projected to be 355 ktoe. The two most important biofuels are projected to contribute 203 ktoe (biodiesel) and 414 ktoe (bioethanol / bio-ETBE) by 2020. The renewable electricity production from solid biomass amounts to 0.4 TWh (31 ktoe) and for biogas it is expected to be 0.9 TWh (77 ktoe). The consumption of renewable heat is expected to amount to 1222 ktoe for solid biomass and is not specified for biogas.
Renewable electricity: wind power
For the year 2010 a target of 20,1% electricity from renewable energy sources is in place (Law 3468/2006). This translates info 3.6 GW installed capacity by the year 2020 (10,7% of electricity). In order to fulfil the above-mentioned 18% European target a share of rebnewable electricity of 33% or 34% is required, which means 8 GW to 10 GW of installed wind power (WWEA 2009).
The installed renewable capacity in Greece importantly increased in the year 2007, and is expected to continue to increase during 2008. The acceleration is due to: long lead-times of project initiated in the period 2001-2004, which is mainly due to institutional reforms in the power sector. Also, the simplifications of investment regime compared to the previous era and the abolishment of administrative barriers during 2003-2004 are reason for this increase. Finally, the revision of the licensing regime and the widening of the time frame of the power supply contracts has helped (Law 3468/2006). Important notions in this law are:
• Putting the national target for the share of RES on an official footing in the net domestic power consumption in the year 2010 at 20.1 percent and in the year 2020 at 29 percent.
• Taking initiatives in environmental permitting through the setting of strict deadlines within which approvals should be granted or consensus rendered by services and bodies involved in the interim stages of the overall licensing.
• Setting up of two intraministerial co-ordinating bodies, one on level of secretaries general and the other made up of high-echelon civil servants, aiming at the coordination of the licensing processes control and the provision of support and guidance to authorities involved therein.
• Ιntroduction of a regime of strict follow-up procedures for the holders of generation authorisations, in order to keep them bound to their legal commitments and making provisions for getting rid of those profiteering from license trading.
• Diversification a feed-in tariff. The tariffs set by the law are revised every year on the basis of the weighted average increases of the incumbent utility’s bills.
• Establishing of the right to install sea wind farms following the successful precedent of similar projects in the North Sea.
• Licensing of hybrid stations without a prior tendering procedure and direct indexing of the energy tariff regime applicable to hybrid stations that will be installed in island systems not connected the mainland’s interconnected system chiefly to the avoided cost of conventional plants whose operation is thereby supplanted to ensure the economic viability of the said stations.
• Completion of the package of efforts at bringing national laws into line with the requirements set forth in article 5 par. 5 of Directive 2001/77/EC through the set up of a system for issuing warranties of origin for renewable energy.
• Improvement of electricity sale terms with the aim of facilitating bank financing of the projects. More specifically, the initial 10-year validity period of the contracts may be extended by an equal period simply upon a producer’s unilateral declaration to the responsible Operator.
• Redrafting and legislative consolidation of the levy imposed on the gross proceeds from the sale of renewable energy (with the exception of photovoltaic) in favour of local governments, at 3 percent in lieu of the previous 2 percent.
• Increase of the limits of installed capacity up to which it is not required the issue of production authorisation and installation and operating permits .
• Lifting of the 50-MW limit of installed capacity above which the provisions of article 35 of Law 2773/1999 did not grant priority to RES plants by load dispatch
An overview of the feed-in tariffs for wind power is provided in the table below.