The Ministry of Environment and Energy has issued a new draft Law entitled “Modernization of the framework of water and sewerage services and urgent energy and urban planning regulations” which was open to public consultation from 13.02.2025 until 28.02.2025.
The draft Law (art.70-79) amends and further introduces new provisions to L. 4951/2022. These provisions -which might be subject to alterations- are summarized below:
* Imposition of operational restrictions to RES and CCHP stations
By virtue of decisions to be issued by the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water (RAWEW), following the recommendation of each one of the Operators of the Hellenic Electricity Transmission System (HETS) and the Distribution Networks, the framework governing operational restrictions imposed by the operators upon the granting of Connection Term Offers (CTOs) and the conclusion of the respective Connection Works Agreements (CWAs) for the connection of new RES and CCHP stations in areas with limited possibility of absorbing new capacity, is specified.
In particular, these decisions shall determine (i) operational restrictions imposed on the basis of the estimated operating status of the local system or network as well as (ii) restrictions activated in real time, in cases of emergency, or in case the injected production creates challenges in maintaining the production-demand balance or the conditions to ensure the stable operation of the network, through automatic protection and control systems which may even lead to the disconnection of the station.
HETS’ Operators and Distribution Networks shall submit their recommendations until 31.03.2025 to RAWEW which shall issue the relevant decisions within a three (3) month period. The restrictions defined therein shall apply to all stations which shall be granted final CTOs or conclude CWAs as of the issuance of the relevant RAWEW’s decisions.
* Penalties for non-compliance with the requirements for the installation of remote monitoring and remote management systems
Pursuant to the draft Law, it is stipulated that RES and CCHP stations with installed capacity > 400 kW to be activated as of entry into force of the said Law should install remote monitoring and remote management prior to their activation.
Moreover, the owners of RES and CCHP stations with installed capacity > 400 kW up to ≤ 1 MW who have not submitted a declaration of conformity to the said requirements within the deadline provided by the draft Law i.e. within eight (8) months after being notified for such requirement by the operators, shall be subject to a monthly charge per MWh of energy produced as of the entry into force of the Law and until the submission of the said declaration.
Non-payment of the above amounts results to the deactivation of their stations’ connection within one (1) month from the date that the said amounts become due. The competent Operators shall reconnect the stations within a period which shall not exceed two (2) months from the date that they are notified by the RES Operator & Guarantees of Origin (DAPEEP) that the amounts due have been paid.
Moreover, as it regards both stations with installed capacity > 600 kW up to 1 MW and stations with installed capacity ≥400 kW and ≤600 kW, the draft Law provides for specific timeframes (depending on the date of their activation) for the submission of the declaration of conformity prior to their disconnection from the network.
In case the owners of RES and CCHP stations with installed capacity >1 MW have not submitted the said declaration within eight (8) months as of 01.05.2024, the respective Operator shall deactivate their connection to the Network or System until their compliance is confirmed. The competent Operator shall reconnect the stations within a period which shall not exceed (2) months from the date that the submission of a declaration of compliance is confirmed.
* Sanctions for Aggregators
Following a RAWEW’s decision, it is stipulated that in case aggregators fail to deliver to the stations they represent, the orders for re-dispatching and injection limitations indicated by the competent Operator and such failure results in the imposition of sanctions on those stations, their licenses may be suspended.
* Operators’ exemption from liability for curtailments in electricity injection and absorption
Pursuant to the draft Law, the competent operators of HETS and Distribution Networks shall not be held liable to the owners of RES and CCHP stations, Electricity Storage Stations and hybrid stations and no compensation shall be due to the latter for:
– the energy not injected or absorbed by their stations due to the injection limitation orders imposed on them for the purpose of maintaining the necessary reserves or for other reasons related to the safe operation of the system or network or due to local congestion.
– the positive and consequential damage incurred to the producers as a result of the above orders for the period during which the stations did not have the technical capability to receive Injection Limitation Orders either from the HETS Operator or from the competent Network Operator, or the Aggregators representing them in the electricity markets for as long as the deadline provided for the installation of the aforementioned systems applies as well as after its expiry in case of non-compliance.
Moreover, Operators shall neither be liable to nor obliged to compensate the owners of RES and CCHP stations or the producers of groups of such stations or private medium voltage networks for (a) the energy not injected due to injection limitation orders aiming to limit their total injected capacity in case of any problems occurring in the electricity production-transmission system which are aggravated by the operation of the stations, even in case such orders have been provided prior to the entry into force of the draft Law as well as (b) the positive and consequential damage incurred to producers from these orders.
Edited by Daphne Sotirchou