New Greek state aid scheme for electricity RES production approved
(Article by Mira Todorovic Symeonides, Partner and Konstantinos Ntallas, Associate, published in the Energy & Natural Resources Newsletter of the ILO on Feb 14, 2022)
On 24 November 2021, under EU state aid rules, the European Commission (the Commission) gave the green light to a €2.27 billion Greek scheme for the production of electricity from renewable energy sources (RES). This scheme is expected to provide support to a wide range of technologies generating electricity from RES. It will also help attain the objectives of the Green Deal (the European objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050). It aims to support around 4.2 gigawatts of installed capacity. The scheme is open until 2025 and aid can be paid out for a maximum of 20 years.
Greece notified the Commission of its intention to introduce a new scheme, which builds on the previous Greek support scheme for the
production of electricity from RES and high efficiency cogeneration and the Greek auction scheme for renewable electricity, to support
electricity produced from various RES. The sources include onshore wind, photovoltaic, wind and photovoltaic with storage, biogas,
biomass, landfill gas, hydroelectric power, concentrated solar power and geothermal power plants. The intention of the scheme is to
facilitate the development of renewable electricity production from various technologies in Greece and reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.
The Commission assessed the scheme and concluded that it is in line with EU state aid rules, without unduly distorting competition in
the single market in line with the European Green Deal. The aid was held to be necessary to further develop energy generation from RES
and to help Greece meet its environmental targets, while at the same time being proportionate and limited to the minimum necessary.
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