Country Overview
Greece is located in the Balkans peninsula, Southern-East Europe, where the mainland forms the southernmost part of the area, covering 132 km2 and bordering Bulgaria, Turkey, and Albania. The Greek coastline is the largest in Europe, with the mainland being mostly mountainous. The main differences are between East and North-West, where the former experiences a dry climate and the latter a wet one.
Southern regions receive more than 2000 kWh/m2 of global irradiation yearly, generating up to 1500 kWh/kW of solar electricity. Overall, Greece receives 1700 kWh/m2 of yearly global irradiation, generating 2100 kWh/m2 of electricity.
Wind penetration is higher in central and southern Greece, with the capacity of the Sterea region being 1311 MW.
Following the geological characters, the wind is mostly concentrated in Central Greece (25%) and the Peloponnese area (21,15%); Solar is instead concentrated in Central Macedonia (almost 17%) and Western Greece (14%)
What is the Energy Mix in Greece?
In 2016 the energy mix in Greece included lignite for 23,55% of the installed capacity in the interconnected system, natural gas accounted for 28,4%, hydropower for 19,10% and RES covered 29.33%. The country has a high level of solar irradiation, and 2.9 GW of solar thermal systems installed, meaning that Greece has the second largest capacity in Europe after Germany. The main share of RES in Greece is, therefore, photovoltaic installations.
Solar PV produced a total of 25,4% of RES electricity and 8.2% of total electricity, also thanks to the Special Photovoltaic Rooftop Program, which produced a total of 512 GWh. However, around wind energy, there is also growing attention: the economic wind energy capacity is estimated to be between 10000-12000 MW. In 2018, wind capacity was more substantial than solar PV by 64MW; however, PV will be most significant in the next decade.
The Market Development
A number of factors drive the growth of the energy sector of Greece. First of all, the required optimization of the energy mix, the Liberalization of the electricity and natural gas market, efforts to improve energy efficiency and reduce the costs, and infrastructure development.
A fundamental step, was the establishment of the Hellenic Energy Exchange, which provides high quality, transparent, and non- discriminatory services to environmental market participants, working towards EU´s target model and coupling its market with neighboring countries, not only but by providing low-income families with grants that cover up to 60% of the investments costs of solar water heaters, Greece shows a vast penetration of RES in the system and an effort in adopting European and National policies. RES targets are set so to have a total contribution to the gross final energy consumption of 20% and several others. Eurostat is expecting Greece to reach the 20% goal set for 2020. By 2030, the total RES capacity will grow by 61%-64%, with PV being the greatest in Greece. To reach their targets, Greece will need investments for 43 billion euros, generating a benefit estimated of over 12 billion euros in the GDP share.
The Auction System
After 2017, the Reference value is set by an auction system launched by the Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE), approved by the European Commission. Those are carried out online, and in order to participate, licenses and guarantees are needed. During the last two years, four auctions have been held according to this framework. The design of the results of the auctions is explained in detail on page 21, together with the auctions and electricity prices. Up to March 2020, the weighted yearly average price of the electricity Market in the Interconnected system was 59.38 €.
The Market Changes
Greece is in the Top 10 for energy production from renewables and the 5th worldwide in solar water heating collector capacity per capita. The latter market has been expanding up to 13% due to rising demand in the Middle East and in Latin America, enlarging the production of Greek Manufacturers.
Two are the main changes in the market: the first one regards the license holding fee abolishment and proof of financial ability; the second one is a gate fee to be paid by investors with the submission of the application which will vary according to MW. Specificities on the Wind and Solar sector are explained on page 30 of the Report.
To view the Report in its entirety, please download it here
About the author – Greensolver has been focusing on country-specific renewable energy markets. They have researched and analyzed specific markets and published a document of their findings. Greensolver has explored and analyzed Greece to produce a detailed report of Greece’s RES.
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