In the first half of 2024, Greece’s solar power sector saw an impressive 921 MW of new installations, followed by a record-breaking addition of 337 MW in July. According to the Renewable Energy Sources Operator and Guarantees of Origin (DAPEEP), other renewable energy sources saw only minor gains during July: wind farms added just 2.6 MW, biomass increased by 3 MW, and cogeneration contributed 0.6 MW. With these new installations, Greece’s total installed capacity reached 13.47 GW, comprising 7.57 GW from solar power and 5.2 GW from wind farms.
At the Solarplaza Summit in Athens, Stelios Psomas, an advisor to the Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic Companies (HELAPCO), shared the latest insights. In the first half of the year, new residential solar installations totaled 58.6 MW, a significant increase from 14.4 MW during the same period in 2023. However, growth in projects ranging from 10.8 kW to 1 MW declined year-on-year, dropping from 504.8 MW to 281.9 MW. Conversely, new utility-scale photovoltaic plants surged to 580.1 MW, up from 121.5 MW a year earlier. Notably, 58.4% of residential units installed through June included battery storage.
Psomas highlighted that Greece’s National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) projects a target of 13.5 GW in photovoltaics by 2030, but HELAPCO anticipates that total capacity could reach around 20 GW, as approximately 20 GW of projects have already received grid connection offers. Furthermore, the association expects renewable energy curtailments to reach 1 TWh in 2024, which would account for 3.5% of total renewable electricity production. To address this issue, HELAPCO has proposed raising the 2030 battery storage target in the NECP from 4.3 GW to between 7.5 GW and 8 GW.
