The Greek government presented
this week
a new bill that brings significant
changes to the renewable energy market, especially photovoltaics.
The Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic
Companies (HELAPCO) welcomed the lifting of an effective ban on new PV installs
that was initiated in August 2012. It called the changes a “reboot” for the
country's solar sector.
An annual feed-in tariff (FiT) quota of
250MW would be established under the new bill, which is expected to be passed
at the end of March.
“The bill also imposes permanent
retroactive cuts (average 30%) on existing FiTs for already operating PV plants
and extends the duration of relevant contracts by five years. During this extra
five-year period, the systems will be compensated with electricity market
prices or alternatively with €80/MWh (US$111/MWh),” a statement by HELAPCO
read.
“HELAPCO welcomes the lifting of the ban on new PV systems and foresees a more
stable environment for PV investments after the introduction of the new
measures,” it continued.
According to pv-tech.org, the plans will
also see solar pay 35% of their 2013 turnover into a fund for the Greek
electricity market operator LAGIE as it looks to close it deficit, which runs
into hundreds of millions of euros.