PRESS RELEASE
Despite the uncertainty which ensued the introduction of net billing, in the first seven months of 2024 a total of 10,934 requests for self-production (133 MW) were submitted by citizens, farmers, businesses, municipalities, energy communities and other entities. Today, the total electrified capacity of self-production projects reaches 665 MW. There is a stagnation in applications for commercial energy community projects, while institutional initiatives attempt to solve the major problem of lack of electricity space.
The 6th Review by The Green Tank on self-production and energy communities in Greece maps the most important institutional developments and analyzes the most recent data.
A key milestone this year was the introduction of net billing that made virtual net billing the only institutional tool available to energy communities for the development of self-production projects. At the same time, in an attempt to address the lack of electricity space, a 10 MW absorption margin per substation for self-production projects was ensured, while the share of available electricity space for self-production per substation or per high voltage/medium voltage transformer was increased from 20% to 60%. Another noteworthy event was the introduction of the Apollon Program to meet the needs of energy vulnerable households and local authorities through the creation of Citizen Energy Communities.
The main findings of the analysis of the most recent data by the General Commercial Register (GEMI) and the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator (HEDNO) are summarized as follows:
- So far, 1,742 energy communities have been established (1,318 MW). However, in the first seven months of 2024 there is a stagnation in project requests by energy communities nationwide. Specifically, just 19 requests with a capacity of 1.7 MW were submitted, all of which related to self-production projects.
- In contrast to requests, the electrification of energy community projects continues, albeit at a relatively slower pace. In the first seven months of 2024, 182 projects with a capacity of 131 MW were electrified, down 33.8% compared to the same seven-month-period of 2023 (198 MW).
- Regarding self-production by citizens, farmers, businesses, municipalities, energy communities and other entities, in the first seven months of 2024 a total of 10,934 requests (133 MW) were submitted. Self-production overall saw an acceleration in the rate of electrification; 212 MW of projects were electrified in the first seven months of 2024, namely, just 24 MW short of the amount electrified in all of 2023.
- A total of 665 MW of self-production were electrified by July 2024, accounting for approximately 8% of installed PV capacity nationwide. Merely 28 MW correspond to self-production projects by energy communities.
- The unavailability of electrical space continues to hinder the electrification of self-production projects. By July 2024, 35% of the requested capacity (779 MW) had received a notification of inability to connect to the grid, while 9% was ultimately cancelled (194 MW).
- The lignite region of Western Macedonia ranks second in Greece in the number of energy communities; nonetheless, this region ranks fifth in terms of electrified capacity and has the highest percentage of energy community projects that have been unable to be connected to the grid (75%). The energy community of the Municipality of Kozani has received the first public funding for self-production projects with a total capacity of 7 MW from the resources of the Just Transition Development Program 2021 – 2027 (PDAM).
“Analysis of the most recent data shows that more and more citizens are seeking to produce the energy they consume. In addition to the Apollon programme, the State should ensure sufficient electrical space and financial support for self-production projects by energy communities of citizens and small and medium-sized enterprises, in practice strengthening their participation in the energy transition”, said Ioanna Souka, Data Analyst at The Green Tank.
“Special support should be provisioned to ensure a smooth transition from virtual net metering to virtual net billing, through subsidies for storage projects, reduction of representation costs, and the creation of an appropriate guarantee mechanism to facilitate access to bank lending for energy communities by citizens and small and medium-sized enterprises”, said Ioanna Theodosiou, Policy Associate at The Green Tank.
Notes:
- For the number of energy communities, GEMI data up to September 2024 were used, while for all other variables HEDNO data up to July 2024 were used.
- You can read the full review titled “Energy Communities and Self-production in Greece #6” here.
- You can explore the new data and the changes in the institutional framework at The Green Tank’s Community Energy Watch.