Greece to add 1.36GW of solar energy in 2022
Greece to add 1.36GW of solar energy in 2022
According to data released by the Association of Greek Photovoltaic Companies, the Greek solar market will have three times the installed capacity in 2022 than in 2021.
According to preliminary figures revealed to Photovoltaic magazine by the Association of Greek Photovoltaic Companies (Helapco), Greece will add 1.36GW of new connected PV capacity in 2022, of which 341.5MW will be connected to the Greek transmission grid and approximately 1020MW to the Greek distribution grid.
These figures are preliminary, as Greece has not yet officially announced the number of new PV deployments in 2022. Greek renewable energy operator Dapeep has only released data through the end of September 2022.Dapeep's figures show a total of 932 MW of new PV capacity installed in Greece in the first three quarters of 2022, but do not include data on installations under net metering, which will be announced separately by Greek distribution grid operator Hedno.
Helapco's more complete PV market statistics show that net metering systems account for only a small fraction of the 1.36GW of newly installed solar capacity.
In fact, according to Halapco, 109.4MW of net-metered PV is connected to the Greek domestic grid, while small independent operators operating independent grids in Greece have added another 1.4MW of net-metered PV capacity. Interestingly, the 5.4 MW of net metering capacity installed on the Greek domestic grid in 2022 includes virtual net metering systems.
Considering that the installed capacity of commercial net metering systems is more than twice that of residential systems, the Greek government hopes to boost the residential solar sector by implementing a new rebate program for the residential PV and energy storage sector. The government says the new program will be released soon, likely by the end of March 2023.
Fixed Rates Continue to Drive Growth
New installed PV capacity in 2022 is at least three times the 422 MW of new PV capacity installed in 2021. This includes systems that receive subsidized rates through competitive bidding, small solar plants that receive feed-in tariff subsidies and are less than 500kW in size, and net metering systems.
Helapco said that of the new systems connected to the grid, 200 systems or about 20 MW of capacity are connected to the low-voltage grid, 1,602 systems or 890 MW of capacity are connected to the medium-voltage grid, and about 341.5 MW of capacity is connected to the high-voltage grid.
This shows that the solar PV market in Greece this year, this year is a scarce market, and a piece of good
