The new National Energy and Climate Plan (ESEK), put out for public comment last week, directs investment interest towards new technologies and storage in the first place, and the market looks… like it’s been ready for a long time. As with wind turbines in the past, and more recently with photovoltaics, the investment interest in installing battery systems for storing electricity produced from renewable energy sources (RES) is excessive and already many times exceeds the targets set by ESEK.

The Energy Regulatory Authority (RAE) has approved applications for storage projects with a total capacity of 19,426 GW by early January, when ESEK’s updated target for 2030 is 5.6 GW from batteries and 2.5 GW from pumped storage projects. (total 8.1 GW).

Batteries are a technology that will provide a solution to the problem of alternating wind power generation and photovoltaics, storing energy when it is not being used and channeling it into the system when there is no wind or sun.

Thus, it contributes to the further penetration of renewable energy production, as it ensures their smooth integration into the system and limits the need for network expansion. In this sense, there is a general assessment in the market, as well as in the competent ministries and agencies, that the achievement of increased RES penetration targets will be judged by how quickly storage projects are implemented. For investors with significant RES generation, storage will allow them better leverage of their portfolio and predictability for their participation in the wholesale market, and at the same time more flexibility in entering into green bilateral contracts (GBCs) with large electricity consumers or suppliers.

The RAE has approved applications for storage projects with a total capacity of 19,426 GW through early January.

At this stage, the rush of investors is associated with the inclusion of their projects in the subsidized portfolio of 900 MW, which will receive investment and operational support. The EU approved last September a Greek proposal to support 900 MW storage projects with a €341 million fund to be provided in the form of investment assistance as well as annual operational assistance thereafter for the first ten years of operation. The award of contracts for selected projects, as announced by the Commission, should take place before the end of 2023, and the installation of storage systems should be completed by the end of 2025. .euro fund for storage projects that will be lost if the above schedule is not met. Additional funding of €250 million has been secured for the 680 MW TERNA pumped storage project in Amfilochia, which is already under construction.

The initial planning of the Ministry of Environment and Energy for the first auction of projects that will receive investment and operational support during the first quarter of 2023 does not seem to be completed, as important agreements for its holding are still not finalized, which causes concern from the market, so how delaying storage projects will also slow the growth rate of renewables due to network saturation. “To overcome system capacity issues, storage units need to be licensed and brought online very quickly. To do this, it is necessary to give priority to environmental licensing, as well as the conditions for connection by the Independent Electricity Transmission Operator (ADME), and it is also necessary to finalize the regulatory framework as soon as possible, ”the message says. managing director of “K” PPC Renewables Konstantinos Mavros.

In anticipation of the first auction for storage projects, which is likely to be postponed to the second quarter of the year, all major energy and construction groups operating in the renewable energy market, as well as foreign companies, have taken a “combat” position.

Mytilineos and PPC Renewables have the largest portfolio of 1.1 GW and 1 GW licenses respectively. TERNA Energy, in addition to the pump-saving project, received storage permits for 625 MW, the Copelouso group for 775 MW, Rokas for 540 MW, Intrakat for 496.6 MW, Ellactor for 417.37 MW, Sea (Motor oil group) for more than 300 MW and ELPE Renewables for 175 MW. The French companies AKUO and Voltalia with 386.75 MW and 300 MW projects respectively, the Portuguese EDRP with 150 MW projects, the Italian Enel with licenses over 300 MW and the German ABO are among the foreign companies with storage permits.

Greek and foreign groups join forces for offshore wind farms

Offshore wind farms will play a central role in realizing the increased participation of RES in electricity generation at the level of 80%.

Offshore wind power is expected to be the most important source of electricity generation that Europe will consume by around 2040, in line with the EU strategy. set a target to increase production from 12 GW today to 60 GW in 2030. In this context, Greece, within the framework of the new National Energy and Climate Plan (ESEP), sets a goal to increase the offshore wind capacity to 2.5 GW by 2030.

Large and foreign groups have already joined forces to bid for a place in the deep waters of the Greek seas, awaiting the start of the first concession competition appointed by the competent authorities in 2027. This means that under the most optimistic scenario, the first projects will begin construction in 2028. The “curtain” of the new market, which Secretary General of Energy Alexandra Sduku says will attract €6.4 billion in investment and create more than 8,000 jobs, will open with a pilot project in the Alexandroupoli area. .

The lead in planning is given to the Kopelouzou group, which received a license to produce a 216 MW offshore park in the Alexandroupolis area in 2012, when the first attempt was made to open the market. The RAE license for the same period was assigned to a wind farm in the northeast of Lemnos with a capacity of 498.15 MW by RF Energy, whose interests are Fidakis-Resti. Last spring, the Kopelouzou Group announced the merger of two licenses and the creation of a joint venture managed by Aegean Offshore Wind Farms. with the aim of developing offshore wind farms with a total capacity of 850 MW. The Ministry of Environment and Energy and the Hellenic Hydrocarbon and Energy Management Company (EDEFYEP), which legally took over the preparation and conduct of tenders, have included in their priorities the territory of Crete and two other areas that have not been announced, and, according to information, it is north of Andros and northeast of Lemnos.

EDEFEP’s schedule calls for the completion of the national offshore wind farm development plan in May. In the third quarter of the year, the submission of technical studies to identify organized offshore wind farms is expected, and in the first quarter of 2024, the issuance of a statutory presidential decree. This will be followed in the second quarter of the year by potential investors applying for the first round of concessions and issuing research permits. From the third quarter of 2024 to the third quarter of 2026, surveys of investors in the offshore concession will be conducted. In the first quarter of 2027, an RAE tender will be announced for the compensatory price of generated energy. In the first quarter of 2028, the results of tenders will be summed up, permits will be issued and connection contracts will be signed in order to start construction of facilities in the third quarter of the same year.

Nevertheless, investors are active, and mobility for alliances between foreigners with know-how – which the institutional structure makes a condition of – and local groups continues. An agreement between Ellactor and a large company from Northern Europe is in the works, while the information “points” to the Norwegian Equinor. The company, which is a development of the oil giant Statoil, submitted a proposal to the Ministry of the Interior in 2019 to build an offshore wind farm in the sea area between Tinos, Syros and Mykonos. Until now, agreements on the development of offshore wind farms in the Greek seas have been signed by the German RWE with ELPE Renewables, TERNA Energy with Ocean Winds (a joint venture between the Portuguese EDPR and the French Engie), Mytilineos with the Danish Copenhagen. Offshore Partners, Motor Oil with Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and Intrakat with Parkwind. PPC Renewables is also looking for a partner who is negotiating with three foreign companies and information to bring it closer to France’s Total Eren.

Our national “fuel” is the sun and wind.

The importance given by the National Energy and Climate Plan (ESEK) to the storage sector was highlighted by the Minister of Environment and Energy Kostas Skrekas in his K statement. “We are shifting our focus to developing the required 8GW of electricity storage by 2030. This is because the storage systems will be able to store the excess solar and wind power that is currently wasted and unused and uses the system during downtime. – working hours, for example, in the evenings. In this way, storage systems can be converted into basic units, giving the required security and reliability to our electrical system,” he emphasizes.

He also points to the emergence of energy efficiency and savings as the central pillar of ESEK, which he stresses will lead us to cut CO2 emissions faster. “Immediately until 2025, we are increasing investments in building modernization by almost 50%, and in 2030 these investments will exceed 7.8 billion euros. With the new ESEK, we add value to the Greek economy, create new innovative development sectors, new jobs and use the great competitive advantage of Greece: solar, wind and geothermal energy are the “national” green fuels of Greece, which will contribute to us in more competitive prices for energy carriers for all consumers,” the minister says.

Commenting on the overall goals of ESEK, he states that with the doubling of renewable energy by 2030, the country’s dependence on fossil fuels will also decrease. “While in 2017 and 2018 fossil fuels accounted for 80% of our total electricity production, in 2022 we are at 46%, and by 2030 this percentage will drop to 20%,” he notes.

“We are making an ambitious plan for tomorrow that includes today’s challenges: energy security and affordable energy prices for households, businesses and farmers, and we hope that Greece will be one of the first countries in the European Union to introduce a new National Plan. on energy and climate until April 2023. With a plan and determination, our country is moving forward to take the lead in the transition to a green economy and environmental protection,” emphasizes Mr. Skrekas.