Greece’s Environment and Energy Ministry has unveiled a new €200 million ($215.3 million) support program for solar projects and small storage systems in the residential and agricultural segments. The system is supported by the country’s post-pandemic recovery plan.
Households and farms can install up to 10.8 kW of solar power capacity and 10.8 kWh of battery storage. For home users, the installation of batteries is considered mandatory, and their capacity must not be lower than the capacity of the solar arrays. However, farmers applying for support can decide for themselves whether they want to install batteries.
Ceiling and ground-mounted systems are eligible for support. The program also covers summer homes, but each applicant can only apply for funds for one apartment.
Greece’s new solar-plus-storage system has a budget of 200 million euros, which will come to the country post-pandemic recovery plan. Of this, EUR 35 million is intended for vulnerable households facing energy poverty. Around EUR 85 million is granted to families with an annual income of up to EUR 40,000 and to single-person households with an annual income of up to EUR 20,000. Families with an annual income of more than EUR 40,000, or individuals with an income of more than EUR 20,000, apply for funds from the EUR 50 million support pot. In addition, the government has established a separate support pot of 30 million euros for farmers.
The new system can cover 20–65 percent of the costs of the solar power system, depending on the subsidy. Regarding batteries, the first two support beams cover 100% of the purchase and installation of batteries. The third and fourth support jars cover 90% of the battery costs. Disabled Greeks, single-parent families and families with many children are also granted a 10 percent subsidy.
Support levels indicate that the government is very interested in battery installations. One of the main reasons for this is the battle of the net for new renewable energy capacity.
Greek distribution network operator, Hedno, has stopped accepting new requests to connect facilities to its network since last year, and this is not expected to change anytime soon. The only exceptions are network metering installations, for which Hedno has released approximately 2 GW of network space. 2 GW of grid space is available for small PV systems up to 10 kW and is offered on a first-come, first-served basis. About 40% of this will be used for residential net metering systems and 30% for small commercial solar power systems. The remaining 30% will be allocated to solar electricity projects in agriculture.
Another reason for the system’s abundant battery support is the government’s goal to maximize self-consumption of network metering systems. Solar-plus battery systems can supply electricity to the network only when both the consumption of the site and the charging of the battery are full. Similarly, the government says that if the solar energy system does not produce enough electricity to cover the site’s needs, the user can only buy electricity from the grid when the battery is empty. All solar plus storage systems supported by the new support system are obliged to operate according to this business model for the first five years.
