Photovoltaic news and pv jobs

Approvals for Greek PV systems stopped, drastic cuts introduced

The Greek government has said it is seeking to restore liquidity to the electricity market through the introduction of new measures. A part of this change will see photovoltaic funding drastically cut and approvals for PV systems stopped.

The photovoltaic feed-in tariff cuts will reportedly not be retroactively applied.

Conergy AG

Overall, Greece has decided to slash feed-in tariffs by up to 46 percent. As for the suspension of the approval process for photovoltaic systems, the decision means no new applications for producer licenses and connection requests will be accepted. Furthermore, pending applications will not be processed.

Both changes have been brought in by the Greek Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change (YPEKA) in what it says is a bid to restore liquidity in the electricity market and limit the burden on consumers.

The approval process for projects which already have a producer license or which are exempt from having to obtain such a license and have binding connection requests, will reportedly proceed as normal.

Also excluded from the suspension are rooftop photovoltaic systems and projects that have been incorporated, up to the date of suspension, in a fast track procedure. With the continuation of these photovoltaic projects, the ministry says it has already more than covered its energy objectives for 2020.

Meanwhile, the reduction of the tariffs refers only to newly installed photovoltaic systems and, as such, will not be retroactively applied.

Just a few days ago, the Greek Hellenic Electricity Market Operator published the latest photovoltaic installation figures for the country, which showed that a record 97 MW had been installed in June, thus bringing cumulative capacity to 724 MW.

The Greek government last cut the country's photovoltaic tariffs at the start of February. Click for a list of the previous rates.