In 2016, a new framework was established for the support of RES (Law 4414/2016, Government Gazette 149 A’) with the aim of:

• Alignment with the EC’s Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy 2014-2020 (2014/C 200/01).
• The gradual integration and participation of the RES and CHP plants in the electricity market in the best cost-benefit way for the society and the final consumers.

In this respect, Law 4414/2016 integrated the following new elements in the domestic market of RES:

• Direct operating aid was granted to the RES and CHP power plants in the form of a sliding Feed in Premium, in addition to the price that the plants receive from their participation in the wholesale electricity market to an upper threshold which is the Reference Tariff (RT).
• The Reference Tariff (RT) was determined by using a typical RES project per technology in terms of construction and operation costs, as well as its capacity factor. Under the new law, additional grants provided to the plant under the National Development Investment Program framework will be considered using a specific tariff reduction methodology to avoid the over-compensation of projects. Existing power plants will be able to voluntarily switch to the new operating aid and market participation support regime.
• Under the framework of EC’s Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy 2014-2020 (2014/C 200/01), the reference tariff of PV and Wind power plants to receive operating aid, will be determined only through a competitive process, with the aim to reduce the cost incurred by the consumers.

Finally, it should be noted that for the first time, the RES power plants that receive operating aid under a sliding Feed in Premium must participate in the wholesale electricity market, either independently or through aggregators. In addition, DAPEEP S.A. was appointed as the aggregator of the last resort.

Furthermore, Law 4643/2019 (Government Gazette 193 A’) completed the operating framework of RES power plants established under the provisions of Law 4414/2016, enabling RES plants to participate directly in the wholesale electricity market and to be remunerated under those mechanisms without receiving any operating aid.