• RAE in Greece has announced December 10, 2018 as the date when it will conduct 2nd renewable energy auction
  • Categories 1 and 2 will have solar PV with maximum capacity allotment being 194 MW, with bids capped at €81.71 ($93.18) per MWh, and €71.91 ($82.00) per MWh, respectively
  • Wind power plants can stake claim to a maximum of 229 MW capacity with the ceiling tariff being €79.77 ($90.97) per MWh
  • Last date for online submissions is November 12, 2018; offline submissions will be accepted till November 14, 2018

Greek energy regulatory RAE has fixed December 10, 2018 as the day when the European country will see its 2nd solar PV auction being held. The decision follows a consultation process initiated by RAE about a public call for renewable energy auctions (see Greece Invites Consultation For Second RE Tender).

According to the revised schedule, the idea is to allocate a maximum of 94 MW capacity for PV plants up to 1 MW capacity in Category 1. Category 2 for PV will see a maximum of 100 MW awarded in the range of 1 MW to 20 MW. The 3rd category is for 229 MW of wind power plants with 3 MW to 50 MW capacity to be auctioned.

The maximum bidding price for the auction in PV category 1 is €81.71 ($93.18) per MWh; for PV category 2, it is €71.91 ($82.00) per MWh; and for wind power plants, it is capped at €79.77 ($90.97) per MWh.

Projects auctioned in category 1 will need to come online within 12 months, while the deadline for category 2 projects is 15 months. Wind power plants will get 24 months for completion and commissioning, as per tender rules.

Last date to submit online applications for this tender is November 12, 2018. Offline submissions will be accepted till November 14, 2018.

Greece held its first solar PV auction in July 2018 allotting 106 MW of solar power capacity under the two categories in the form of 91 projects (see First Greek RE Auction Awards 106 MW PV).

In a whitepaper published in preparation for the first edition of the PV Market & Tender Mission Greece scheduled for November 20 to 22, 2018 in Athens, Solarplaza says the country’s PV capacity grew from 47 MW in 2010 to 2.6 GW in 2013 with at least 80% being ground mounted systems. It was followed by FiT cuts that reduced investor interest in the market. Finally, in 2016 the country adopted the renewable energy auction route as a new support scheme approved by the European Commission. A pilot auction for PV was conducted in December 2016 – it awarded 40 MW.

“Interestingly enough, Greece has already reached its 2020 target of 2,200 MW of installed PV capacity. That bids the question as to what the new plans or targets will be for 2020 and what will happen beyond that horizon,” reads the whitepaper. However, as Greece heavily relies on dirty lignite there might be a good reason to accelerate the use of cheap and clean solar.

RAE plans to auction 2.6 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2020 (see Greece To Hold Solar & Wind Tender In July 2018).