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Laws
The basic law governing RES electricity is Law 2773 of 1999, on the liberalisation of the domestic electricity market, and, specifically, its Chapter 10, Articles 35-41. This law has incorporated the majority of provisions of the earlier Law 2244 of 1994, which, unlike Law 2773, was devoted entirely to RES electricity matters. At present, there is no Greek law dealing specifically with heat production from RES.
The key provisions of Law 2773/99 concerning renewables are as follows:
i. The Hellenic Transmission System Operator (HTSO) is obligated to grant priority access (priority in load dispatching) to RES electricity-producing installations up to 50 MWe in power capacity (up to 10 MWe in the case of small hydroelectric units).
ii. The HTSO is obligated to enter into a 10-year contract (PPA) with the RES-electricity producer for the purchase of his electricity. The contract always includes a renewal option.
iii. The RES-electricity production of an independent power producer, or the surplus electricity production of a RES autoproducer, is sold to the HTSO at a predetermined buyback rate, which is fixed percentage of the corresponding consumer electricity rate.
iv. Every RES-electricity producer is subject to a special reciprocity charge (annual fee), specified by a joint decision of the Ministers of Finance and Development, and equal to two-percent (2%) of the producer’s electricity sales to the grid. This charge is collected by the HTSO and is given to the Local Authority, within the area of which the RES generation unit operate, for the purpose of realising local development projects.
Law 2773/99 instituted a new license, the so-called electricity generation license, which is now the first license required to be obtained by any electricity-producing station, conventional or RES-based, in a long planning/licensing procedure that also includes presiting permit, landuse permit, approval of environmental terms and conditions, installation license, operation license, etc. (see below).
Law 2941 of 2001 supplemented Law 2773/99 with certain important provisions about renewables, including: a) the definition of the general terms and conditions, under which it is allowed to install RES stations in forests and forestry lands, and b) the characterisation of all RES projects as projects of public utility status, which gives them the same rights and privileges in land expropriation procedures as those given to public works, independently of the legal status of the RES project owner (being private or public).
Ministerial Decrees
Laws 2244/94, 2773/99 and 2941/01 on renewables are supplemented by a number of Ministerial Decrees, which specify:
a) The procedures, required documents, fees, etc. for issuing the generation, installation and operation licenses, necessary to all RES-to-power projects.
b) The general technical and financial terms of the contract to be concluded between the Transmission System Operator (HTSO) and each RES power producer, the details of the electricity tariffication system to be applied, the terms and conditions for connecting the RES station to the grid, etc.
c) While the new Law 3010/2002 and the JMD 15393/2332/2002, MD 25535/3281/2002 and JMD 11014/703/_104/2003 delineate the revised procedure for the environmental planning and authorisation process and the approval of environmental terms and conditions.
The most important of the above Ministerial Decrees (MD) are summarised below:
1. MD 17951/2000: Terms and procedures for obtaining the electricity generation license.
2. JMD 15393/2332/2002 and JMD 11014/703/_104/2002 (in conjuction with the enactment of the new Environmental Law 3010/2002): Terms and procedures for obtaining the necessary environmental licenses (preliminary environmental impact assessment and evaluation, approval of environmental terms and conditions).
3. MD 2000/2002: Terms and procedures for obtaining the RES installation and operation licenses, as well as a model contract (PPA) between the HTSO and the RES power pro-18 ducer.
4. MD 31928/1993 ( in conjunction with Law 1475/1984): Terms, procedures and fees for obtaining the necessary concession license, for the right to exploit a geothermal field.
5. MD 5813/1989 ( in conjunction with Law 1739/1987): Terms and procedures for obtaining the necessary “unified water license”, which is a license for water use and for carrying out any project of exploitation of water resources (including energy valorisation).
In 1995, the Greek Ministry of Environment, Urban Planning and Public Works prepared an Action Plan, entitled “Energy 2001”, aiming at promoting the use of RES, as well as the application of energy-efficiency technologies, in the building sector. The Action Plan was prepared in order to define specific measures for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in buildings, in accordance with the “National Action Plan for the Abatement of CO2 and Other Greenhouse Gases”. Following official adoption of the Action Plan by the Greek Government, “Energy 2001” was further reinforced by the enactment of MD 21475/98, which incorporated the provisions of Council Directive 93/76/EC (SAVE Directive) for the stabilisation of CO2 emissions and the efficient use of energy in buildings.
Concerning the incorporation of RES systems in buildings, the MD 21475/98 specifically refers to, in Art. 2:
• active solar systems, such as hot-water solar heaters and photovoltaic modules
• other (non-specified) RES systems which convert renewables to electricity or thermal energy.
In addition, Art. 4 of the Ministerial Decree provides for the future issuing of a Regulation for the rational and efficient use of energy, which will be in compliance with the Greek General Building Code. The drafting of the Regulation has been assigned by the Ministry of Environment, Urban Planning and Public Works to the Centre for Renewable Energy Sources (CRES), and it is to be carried out in accordance with the provisions and specifications set out by MD 21475/98. As far as the incorporation of RES in buildings is concerned, the Ministry’s specifications for the drafting of the Regulation encompass the following:
• determination of the building’s energy requirements and their potential degree of coverage through RES
• specifications of active solar systems (ASS)
• determination of the ASS contribution to space and water heating (compulsory)
• determination of the contribution of photovoltaic systems (PVs) to the coverage of the building’s electrical loads (optional)
• study for the incorporation of ASS (compulsory) and PVs (optional) in buildings
• determination of the requirements for the installation of building energy systems for the exploitation of RES.
Finally, it is also important to mention here the legally binding EU Directive 2001/77/EC on RES electricity and its indicative target for Greece, i.e. 20.1% coverage of the country’s total electricity demand by renewables, until 2010. This target corresponds to about 2500 MWe of RES installations, an eightfold increase over the currently installed RES capacity of about 320 MWe.
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