Network capacity reserved for RES investment plans now shelved without development prospects will be freed, Greek energy minister Thodoros Skylakakis has told the Balkan Energy Forum in Kozani.
The country faces an energy-storage capacity shortage. Big energy-storage projects are in progress but still have some way to go. Pumped storage is a technology that requires years to develop, while batteries, which will play a major role, were a high-cost solution until last year.
The RES sector is going through a challenging period as the unpredictability of RES output combined with insufficient energy storage levels in Greece have led to RES production cuts and, in some cases, forced electricity exporters to pay for exports. Earnings levels of electricity producers have also been impacted by negative prices brought about by surplus electricity production, as was the case in April.
RES investors, especially ones active in self-consumption, will need to carefully consider the times chosen to consume and produce energy as, otherwise, lack of coordination will result in either RES cuts or the sale of output at low prices.
Except for the west Macedonia region, formerly a lignite-dependent local economy in northern Greece, RES subsidies should be considered a thing of the past as consumers cannot go on footing the bill through surcharges, energypress.eu reports.
