Feed-in tariff I (Feed-In premium exemptions)
Updated: 17.01.2019
Author: Georgios Maroulis
From 2016, RES and CHP plants to be connected to the transmission system participate in the electricity market and are awarded a sliding feed-in premium (called “Operating support based on a differential compensation price”) and from 2017, feed-in premium is granted through tenders (see “Tender”). However, exemptions apply to smaller installations, i.e. wind energy plants ≤3MW and other RES ≤500kW, which are eligible for a feed-in tariff, (called “Operating support based on a fixed compensation price”).
Eligible technologies
Almost all RES technologies are eligible (art. 3 par.5 Law No. 4414/2016).
| Wind energy | Eligible (art. 3 par.5 Law No. 4414/2016). |
|---|---|
| Solar energy | Only CSP is eligible (art. 3 par.5 Law No. 4414/2016). |
| Geothermal energy | Eligible (art. 3 par.5 Law No. 4414/2016). |
| Biogas | Eligible (art. 3 par.5 Law No. 4414/2016). |
| Hydro-power | Eligible (art. 3 par.5 Law No. 4414/2016). |
| Biomass | Eligible (art. 3 par.5 Law No. 4414/2016). |
Amount
Wind power plants ≤3 MW and other RES plants ≤˂500 kW (excluding PV) may be awarded Operating Support Contract (Ffixed Pprice), which equals the Reference Price (art.3 par.5 Law No. 4416/2016). RES on non-interconnected islands are also awarded Operating Support Contract (Ffixed Pprice), however only under the precautions stipulated in Law No. 4414/2016 (art.8 Law No. 4414/2016). Below, the Reference Prices for each respective renewable technology are provided (art.4 par.1b Law No. 4414/2016).
| Solar energy | CSP: 257-278 €/MWh (art.4 par.1b Law No. 4414/2016) |
|---|---|
| Geothermal energy | ≤5MW: 139 €/MWh (art.4 par.1b Law No. 4414/2016) |
| Biogas | Landfill biogas: ≤ 2 MW: 129 €/MWh Biogas from biomass: ≤ 3 MW: 225 €/MWh (art.4 par.1b Law No.4414/2016) |
| Hydro-power | ≤3MW: 100 €/MWh (art.4 par.1b Law No.4414/2016) |
| Biomass | ≤1MW: 184-193 €/ MWh Furthermore, the reference prices for CHP are the following: 1MW-5MW: 80/84 €/ MWh + NGPA NGPA: Natural Gas Price Adaptation. NGPA (Natural Gas Price Adaptation) is calculated with the following equation: (Mean Monthly Natural Gas Price-26) * (1-(n-ne)/nhr)/ ne, where ne= thermal performance level of CHP, nth= thermal performance level of CHP, n=ne+nth. Price differentiation depends on the type of technology the CHP plant is employing. |
| Wind energy | 98 €/MWh (art.4 par.1b Law No. 4414/2016) |
Addressees
Entitled party. The persons entitled to participation in the tender are those plant operators that hold a generation licence and participate in the electricity market.
Obligated party. For Operating Support Contracts (FiP) in the continental system - Former LAGIE- DAPEEP (RES and Guarantees of Origin Regulator) (art. 9 par. 1 Law 4414/2016).
Procedure
Process flow |
|
|---|---|
Competent authority | LAGIE is the competent authority for paying off the FiP and Fixed Price. |
Flexibility mechanism
The statistical transfer of a certain amount of RES electricity is possible by an agreement with the Member States. The term duration of such an agreement may exceed one year. Every three months, a report will be published by the Ministry of Environment and Energy on the total amount of electricity produced from RES in the previous year (art.32d Law No. 3468/2006). In any case, the European Commission must be three months in advance be informed of the pending termination of an agreement three months in advance (art. 32a Law No. 3468/2006).
Degression
Reference Prices are amended yearly, every first trimester (art.4 par.5 Law No.4414/2016). Apart from that, the level of the feed-in tariff is also modified i.e. reduced if the plant operator receives any kind of investment support (EU support is excluded). In this case the level of support is reduced according to the Capital Depreciation Coefficient (art.3 par.7 Law No. 4414/2016).
Eligibility period
The duration of Operating Support Contracts is 20 years, with the exemption of CSP plants. For CSP plants the duration is 25 years (art.3 par.6 Law No.4414/2016).
Distribution of costs
| State | The feed-in tariff is paid out from the “Special Account for RES and CHP”. The revenue of this Account is acquired through trading GHG emission allowances (art.143 par.3b Law No.4001/2011). |
|---|---|
| Consumers | The costs of the feed-in tariff system are borne by the consumers, who are obliged to pay a "Special Tax for the Reduction of Greenhouse Gases", which is added to their electricity bills (art. 40 par. 3c Law No. 2773/1999). The tax depends on the consumer category, is revised twice a year by the Regulatory Authority for Energy and varies from € 2.47 to €26.08 per MWh (RAE Decision 1101/2017 in conjunction with art. 143 Par. 3a Law No.4001/2011). |
| Plant operator | Plant operators and electricity suppliers pay fees for the “Day Ahead Scheduling” as well as the sums that might emerge from Imbalance Settlement (art.art. 143 par.3a Law No.4001/2011). |
| Distribution mechanism | The Electricity Market Operator (LAGIE) pays out the foreseen support through a “Special Account for RES and CHP) (Art. 40 Par. 3c Law No. 2773/1999 in conjunction with Art. 1 Min Res /F1/oik.17149 in conjunction with Art. 143 Par.2 Law No.4001/2011). The “Special Account for RES and CHP” is divided in two basic categories: “Special Account for RES and CHP for the Transmission System” and “Special Account for RES and CHP for non-interconnected system”. “Special Account for RES and CHP for the Transmission System” is further divided into subaccounts: 1. “Subaccount of Electricity Market”, whose revenues are (art.143 par.3a Law No.4001/2011):
2. “Subaccount of Support”, whose revenues include (art.143 par.3b Law No.4001/2011):
Similar categorization is foreseen for “Special Account for RES and CHP for non-interconnected system” (art.143 par.4 Law No.4001/2011). |
Greece
