Blueprint being drawn up for energy storage

The government is breathing new life into mature energy storage projects totaling 1,500 megawatts that had frozen via a ministerial decision last June, and is promoting renewable energy source licenses with a combined capacity of more than 15 gigawatts.

The Energy Ministry bill seen by Kathimerini and headed to public consultation, also includes regulations aimed at addressing the challenges of insufficient grid capacity for the transmission of the “green” energy produced. It also provides for greater flexibility in the development of smaller-scale wind and solar projects.

The draft law on the second stage of the modernization and simplification of RES licensing is expected to reach Parliament just before the European Union announces, in May, the “new energy pact” on RES acceleration, aimed at mobilizing all member states in this direction by lifting all obstacles.

RES acceleration is for the EU the key to its disengagement from fossil fuels, and mainly Russian natural gas, and leads to new terms in RES project and network infrastructure development, ensuring they serve the public interest before they secure a fast-track drafting and licensing process.

Ahead of the European decisions, Greece is already picking up pace by opening the way for storage investments, not only toward the growth of RES but also to strengthen competition in the wholesale market to the benefit of consumers.

By definition, storage technology contributes in RES growth as it can store the energy produced by the sun or the wind and return it to the system when needed, as well as bringing more flexibility to the grid.

The bill provides for two main categories of storage projects. The first concerns battery terminals, potentially combined with RES projects, while the second one has two subcategories: Storage terminals that do not absorb any energy from the grid (located next to RES projects) and qualify for state subsidies, and terminals that supply to and absorb energy from the grid.