The competitive bidding procedures for RES and CHP power generating units is an obligation of the Greek State as an EU member, with the entry into force of the RES support regime in the form of Operating Aid from the 1st of January 2017. Before the formulation of RAE’s Opinion to the Ministry of Energy, a pilot competitive bidding process was held in December 2016, according to the provisions of Law 4414/2016 and under the full supervision and competence of RAE. For this reason, a Working Group was set up, following RAE’s mandate, consisting of scientists of different specialties (electrical engineers, lawyers, computer engineers and programmers). The aim of the Working Group was to design and carry out the permanent competitive procedures for RES projects.
For the benefit of the consumers, the Greek electricity market has been experiencing continuous changes in the recent years. The changes aim to improve the conventional power plants’ and renewable energy sources’ (RES) operating conditions, to address Climate Change and to achieve reduction of the greenhouse emissions, the protection of the environment, the strengthening of competitiveness and growth. The new mechanism replaced the old system of feed in tariffs, which were determined by administrative procedures, At the same time, the reference tariff will still be determined by administrative procedures for the projects that have received the relevant exemption (small hydroelectric power plants, biogas projects etc.) while PV and Wind projects will have to participate in competitive procedures. The aim of this transition, as well as of the competitive bidding procedures, according to local and European actors, is the recovery of the domestic market and the reduction of costs for the consumers, through the granting of operating aid using reference tariffs which are determined by competitive bidding procedures.
