Greece

Greece’s Hellenic Petroleum has secured financing to develop 190 MW of combined solar PV and wind power capacity in Greece. The company was awarded 8.6 MW of PV capacity in Greece’s inaugural renewable energy tender in December 2016.

Greece’s incumbent utility, the Public Power Corporation (PPC) has announced a target for new solar PV projects. The move, while justified, may come too late to save the PPC, which is trying to reduce its reliance on lignite and avoid bankruptcy.

Greece’s environment and energy minister has approved the country’s virtual net metering provisions. This is a policy step towards the right direction, however it is not expected to have a significant effect on Greece’s PV installations any time soon.

The island of Tilos in Greece’s Aegean Sea is going to host the country’s first renewable energy plus battery storage system. pv magazine explores why this is so significant for Greece.

Greece’s first virtual net-metering PV system is installed on the rooftop of a school in Thessaloniki, the country’s second biggest city. The system is funded by Greenpeace Greece but is not yet connected to the grid, as it is waiting for a ministerial decision facilitating virtual net metering.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced a framework committing up to €300 million of new financing for Greece’s renewable energy sector. The timing is crucial, since the Greek electricity sector is expected to undergo fundamental changes very soon.

2016 was a bad year for Greece in terms of newly added PV installations, and this is not the only bad news. The country’s electricity sector is nearing disaster, following the government’s incompetent economic and electricity policies.

Greece’s solar PV market has been a roller coaster over the last decade. The new law, approved last week by Greece’s parliament, in support of renewable energies attempts to establish the country’s clean energy sector with some solid foundations.

While Greece’s solar PV market starts to gather heat, pv magazine explores why Greece’s non-interconnected island region is the country’s number one spot in need of more solar PV and storage projects.

Greece is set to publish a new policy framework for the support of renewable energies in June, with the aim of putting it into law by July. Two pilot auctions for around 50 MW of solar PV will take place as part of the policy.