Energy regulator RAE has announced the country’s first joint solar and wind energy auction, which will be held on April 15. Greece’s next renewable energy tender will include solar and wind power and will start with a bid of €64.72/MWh generated. The joint tender is part of Greece’s renewables masterplan for 2018-20, announced last year. The original plan envisaged joint solar-wind auctions of 400 MW would be held both last year and this. However, since there was no joint auction last year, Greek regulator RAE has decided to tender for up to 600 MW of combined capacity next month. Developers who want to participate must submit an online application by 5pm (EET) on March 21. Participants will also need to submit an hard copy of their application by 3pm (EET) on March 27. Surprise measure The regulator has relaxed a requirement that tenders be oversubscribed by 75% to be valid – applied to auctions in July and December – and will instead honor next month’s procurement provided there are bids for at least 840 MW of capacity, amounting to a 40% over-subscription level. However, the requirement for eligible projects to have already secured a generation license and grid connection agreement remains a major hurdle for developers, as few PV projects hold such permits. Eligible projects to bid Solar projects must have a capacity of at least 20 MW to participate in next month’s auction although that capacity can be aggregated from a group of projects as long as it contains at least two solar farms and connects to the grid through a single substation. Clusters of joint PV and wind projects that use a single substation can also bid, provided they have a total capacity of 50 MW. For wind projects, the minimum capacity is 50 MW, although that size can be aggregated from separate projects which use the same substation. Finally, PV and wind power projects previously granted ‘strategic investment’ status by the Greek government can also participate. Hellenic Petroleum In another boost for Greek renewables, oil company Hellenic Petroleum recently accompanied its annual results by announcing it intends to invest up to €250 million into PV, wind and biomass projects over the next five years. Hellenic aims to own 300 MW of renewable energy generation capacity by 2023, up from 26 MW today. PV projects will comprise the main bulk of new renewable power capacity built by the firm, according to a recent presentation it made. Hellenic is the latest fossil fuel company to try and carve out a slice of the energy transition, following in the footsteps of global majors including Total, Shell, BP and Enel. The company installed 8.6 MW of solar capacity after participating in Greece’s pilot PV tender of 2016 but has been slow to embrace renewable energy as part of its generation mix.
Enel is to stage its first joint wind and solar energy auction, for 600 MW, in April 2019 as part of its 2018-20 renewables plan. As part of the tender the country’s energy regulator RAE has relaxed its rule that tenders had to be 75% oversubscribed to be valid. The auction is expected to start at €64.72($72.63)/MWh generated. Solar projects must be at least 20 MW, wind has to be at least 50 MW and clusters of wind and power also have to be more than 50 MW in total. Online applications have to be made by 21 March.