The temporary restriction of new project licensing to photovoltaic The RAAE regulatory authority is now considering to address the problems faced by the wider industry of RES.
Initially, the licensing pause was requested by RES bodies, including photovoltaic and wind links that see things leading to a dead end. The reason for the increasingly forced cuts are, especially at noon when photovoltaics produce larger amounts of energy than the system is needed.
According to market players, if the current trend continues, then in 2030 a percentage of 20 – 35% of the green energy produced will end up in the bin.
At the same time, the arrival of more and more frequent zero or negative wholesale values means that for several projects their operation becomes unprofitable certain hours each month, thus threatening their commercial viability.
Now, these concerns seem to be shared by Raev, though the RIS has recently been in favor of continuing the licensing. Specifically, Deputy Foreign Minister Nikos Tsafos said that the RES development cannot be stopped, as it is a one -way street to reduce energy costs.
Based on the above, it remains to be seen which voices will dominate and what direction things will take. Authorities should also take into account the fact that there is a huge licensing tail of dozens of gigavat with projects waiting to receive definitive connection conditions and connect to the network. The issue is to be raised on a table at a meeting soon at the RIS.
For its part, the ELETAEN Wind Energy Association repeated this week the call for a more balanced energy mix, with a better ratio between wind and photovoltaics. As he pointed out, in 2024 only 126 MW of wind turbines were installed, against 2.6 GW of photovoltaics. This imbalance is also depicted in the projects they have received or await licenses to the network.
According to data presented by ELETAEN, the average fee of wind farms in 2024 was 93.19 euros per megawatt hour, compared to 145.42 for photovoltaics. The proposal of the Union is to freeze the offer of connection terms for photovoltaics until the balance is restored.
The Association at the same time calls for new wind farms to be held, as well as an acceleration of the licensing time that remains high in the case of this technology.