Implementation of new regulatory framework regarding RES production licensing
(Article by Mira Todorovic Symeonides – Partner and Dr. Maria Ioannou – Associate of Rokas Law Firm, published in the Energy & Natural Resources Newsletter of the ILO on November 16, 2020)
Introduction
In May 2020 Law 4685/2020 on the modernisation and simplification of, among other things, renewable
energy source (RES) production licensing was enacted. By virtue of Law 4722/2020, the next submission round
for new applications for RES producer certificates pursuant to this new regulatory framework has been
scheduled for December 2020 (instead of October 2020). This was deemed necessary in order to allow the
Greek Regulatory Authority (RAE) to develop the new electronic system and finish evaluating several still-
pending applications. Meanwhile, the RAE has been busy issuing RES producer certificates for which
applications have been pending since before the enactment of Law 4685/2020, pursuant to its transitional
provisions
Recent ministerial decisions
Although the new regulation on the licensing procedure, which will further concretise Law 4685/2020, will be
issued imminently, various other highly anticipated ministerial decisions have been issued which further
regulate the Greek RES sector and specify the terms under which RES projects will receive environmental
permits. More specifically, a minister of environment and energy decision (OJ B΄ 3291/06.08.2020) has raised
the thresholds for the environmental permitting of RES projects. Thus, henceforth, photovoltaic (PV) stations of
up to 1 megawatt (MW) need not have a prior environmental permit and PV stations of between 1MW to 10MW
will require only standard environmental commitments. Further, wind parks of up to 10MW will be issued
standard environmental commitments instead of an approval of environmental terms. This ministerial decision
also stipulates that storage units that are connected to a RES project will receive the same environmental
permit (ie, approval of environmental terms or standard environmental commitments) as the RES project.
Any pending applications for network connection terms that have been filed for RES projects and for which no
environmental permit is necessary will be granted connection terms in accordance with guidelines to be issued
by the Ministry of Environment and Energy.
Further, as the new law attempts to solve the problem of overlapping applications (ie, simultaneous
applications for production licences that concern the same land plots) by assessing them based on criteria such
as the possession of legal title over the land plots, the RAE has commissioned legal experts to determine what
constitutes an indisputable legal title of ownership or usufruct and how this is to be evidenced, in view of the
regulation to be introduced by the minister of environment and energy following the issuance of an opinion by
the RAE.
In addition, a much-anticipated decision of the minister of environment and energy (OJ Β΄ 3149/30.07.2020)
has been issued, defining the maximum total capacity of PV power installed on agricultural land per
‘prefecture’ (a threshold which sets a cap on the total PV capacity to be produced by PV stations of up to 1MW
installed on agricultural land of high productivity).
As regards small wind projects of up to 60 kilowatts, a ministerial decision which regulates their installation
and connection to the network has been issued (OJ Β΄ 3150/30.07.2020).
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