The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a Greek measure with an estimated budget of €341m to support the construction and operation of energy storage plants.
The measure will be partly funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), following the Commission’s positive assessment of the Greek Recovery and Resilience Plan and its adoption by the Council.
The measure aims at allowing a smooth integration in the Greek electricity system of an increasing share of renewable energy coming from wind and solar sources. The scheme will also contribute to the EU’s strategic objectives relating to the EU Green Deal.
Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “Increasing available electricity storage capacity in the system is key to make grids more flexible and better prepared for a future in which renewables form the backbone of the decarbonised electricity mix.
“The Greek aid measure we have approved today, which will be partly funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility, will contribute to the development of competitive markets for electricity system services, while helping Greece meet its emission reduction targets.”
The scheme notified by Greece will promote the establishment of several electricity storage facilities, with a joint capacity of up to 900MW, connected to the high-voltage network.
The projects will be selected through a transparent and non-discriminatory bidding process.
The award of the contracts to the selected projects should take place before the end of 2023 and the storage facilities should be completed by the end of 2025.
The aid will be granted, cumulatively, in the form of an investment grant, which will be paid during the construction phase of all supported projects and an annual support to be paid during the operations phase of the projects, for a 10-year period.
The total amount of annual support per beneficiary will be determined in a competitive tender and adjusted through a claw-back mechanism in case the project has excess market revenues from its participation to the market during the operations phase.