Generation of Electricity using Renewable Energy Sources

This law, which came into force in June 2006, transposes EU Directive 2001/77/EC regarding the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources (RES) in the internal electricity market. It also seeks to promote, by granting priority to the generation of electrical power from RES and high efficiency cogeneration of electricity and heat plants in the internal electricity market. In the act, RES are listed as: wind energy, solar energy, wave energy, tidal energy, biomass, gases released in sanitary landfills and biological treatment plants, biogases, geothermal energy, and hydraulic energy utilized in hydroelectric stations. The act: - regulates the production of electricity using RES and high efficiency cogeneration; - regulates the installation and operation of power generation facilities using RES and high efficiency cogeneration - provides for the levels of feed in tariffs for electricity sourced for renewable energy; - provides for the promotion of power production from photovoltaic stations via the establishment of a photo-voltatic deployment programme; - establishes the institutional framework for the promotion of RES and high effciency cogeneration, including the publication of a national report on the topic, under the authority of the Minister of Development. Article 13 of the act provides for the feed-in tariffs listed below (to be priced monthly on the basis of the price in Euro per MWh of electricity taken up by the System or the Network). In each case, the first figure listed is the price for the interconnected system, while the second figure is the price for the non-interconnected islands. (a) wind energy: 73, 84.6 (b) wind energy from sea wind farms: 90 (c) hydraulic energy exploited in small-scale hydroelectric plants with an installed capacity up to 15 MWe: 73, 84.6 (d) Solar energy utilized in photovoltaic units with an installed capacity less than, or equal to 100 kW peak, and which will be installed in a lawfully owned or possessed property or in adjacent properties of the same owner or lawful possessor: 450, 500 (e) Solar energy exploited in photovoltaic units with an installed capacity of over 100 kW peak: 400, 450 (f) Solar energy exploited in units employing a technology other than that of photovoltaics with an installed capacity up to 5 MWe: 250, 270 (g) Solar energy exploited in units employing a technology other than that of photovoltaics with an installed capacity of over 5 MWe: 230, 250 (h) Geothermal energy, biomass, gases released from sanitary landfills and biological treatment plants and biogases: 73, 84.6 (i) Miscellaneous RES: 73, 84.6 (j) High-efficiency cogeneration of heat and electricity: 73, 84.6 In addition, the 9% VAT is not included. A 40% grant is available on top of the new feed-in tariffs for most of the systems (minimum investment eligible for grant = EUR100 000) In January 2009 amendments were made to the law, according to which feed-in tariffs will be unchanged until 2010. No more new applications for permits will be accepted, and all applications already filed for systems over 3Gwp will be finalised by the end of 2009. A separate program for rooftop PV will be introduced later in 2009, aiming at 750 extra MWp. Rooftop systems will receive a higher tariff for 20 years but no grant. Timeframe for this target and programme details are to be determined. The new law also introduced a tender process for PV systems greater than 10 MWp. Details on how this is going to work are expected later in the year.

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