Premium tariff (Feed-in Premium)
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”). From 2017, feed-in premium is granted through tenders (see “Tender”). Hence, Operating Support Contracts for wind power plants ≥6MW and other RES plants ≥1MW are on hold until a tender is announced. Exemptions apply to smaller installations, which are eligible for a feed-in tariff (s. Feed-in Tariff I).
Eligible technologies
All RES technologies are eligible (art. 4 par.1b Law No. 4414/2016).
Geothermal energy | Eligible (art. 4 par.1b Law No. 4414/2016). |
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Wind energy | Eligible (art. 4 par.1b Law No. 4414/2016). |
Solar energy | Eligible (art. 4 par.1b Law No. 4414/2016). |
Biogas | Eligible (art. 4 par.1b Law No. 4414/2016). |
Hydro-power | Eligible (art. 4 par.1b Law No. 4414/2016). |
Biomass | Eligible (art. 4 par.1b Law No. 4414/2016). |
Amount
RES and CHP plants to be connected to the transmission system participate in the electricity market and are eligible for a sliding feed-in premium (called “Operating support based on a differential compensation price”) (art.3 par.1 Law No.4414/2016). The support is calculated as a difference between the Special Market Price for each renewable technology and the Reference Price stipulated in the Operating Support Contract (art.3 par.1 Law No.4414/2016). Special Market Price is defined as follows (art.6 Law No. 4414/2016):
- Wind, PV, small hydro: The monthly weighted average price of each respective technology that is based on the Marginal Average System Price, while other factors can be taken into account;
- Biomass, biogas, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), geothermal, CHP: The monthly average of the Marginal Average System Price.
Wind energy | 98 €/MWh (art.4 par.1b Law No.4414/2016). |
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Solar energy | CSP: 257-278 €/ MWh PV ≤500 kW: 1,2* MASPv-1 (MASPv-1= Marginal Average System Price of the previous year (art.4 par.1b Law No.4414/2016). |
Geothermal energy | ≤5MW: 139 €/ MWh ˃5MW: 108 €/ MWh (art.4 par.1b Law No.4414/2016). |
Biogas | Landfill biogas
Biogas from biomass
(art.4 par.1b Law No.4414/2016) |
Hydro-power | ≤3MW: 100 €/ MWh 3MW- 15MW: 97 €/ MWh (art.4 par.1b Law No.4414/2016). |
Biomass |
Furthermore, the Reference Prices for CHP are the following:
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. |
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 |
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Competent authority | Former LAGIE-DAPEEP (RES and Guarantees of Origin Regulator) 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 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 informed of the pending termination of an agreement (art. 32a Law No. 3468/2006).
Degression
Reference Prices are amended yearly, every first trimester (art.4 par.5 Law No.4414/2016). Reference Price is not taken into account if a plant operator has successfully won a tender. In that case, the bid substitutes the Reference Price (art.3 par.3 Law No. 4414/2016). Apart from that, the level of the FiP is 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).
Cap
From 2017, feed-in premiums (Operating Support Contracts) are awarded through tenders (art.7 Law No. 4414/2016). For that reason, the conclusion of Operating Support Contracts (FiP) for wind power plants ≥6MW and other RES plants ≥1MW is on hold until a tender is announced (art.28 par.2 Law No.4447/2016).
Eligibility period
The duration of Operating Support Contracts is 20 years, with the exemption of CSP plants (art.3 par.6 Law No.4414/2016).
Distribution of costs
State | The feed-in premium 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). |
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Consumers | The costs of the feed-in premium 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- €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.143 par.3a Law No.4001/2011). |
Distribution mechanism | Former LAGIE- DAPEEP (RES and Guarantees of Origin Regulator) 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). |