New Law Numbered 3851/ 2010 (FEK A’85/2010) Concerning The Acceleration Of The Development Of Renewable Energy Sources A BRIEF SUMMARY

July, 2010 - Theodora Monochartzis

A summary of the new provisions implemented by the law no. 3851/2010- amending the provisions of former legislation no. 3468/2006- regarding the development of the procedures for the renewable energy sources in Greece.

 

National targets for RES for the year 2020

(a) 20% of the gross final energy consumption,

(b) 20% of the final energy consumption for heating and cooling and

(c) 10% of the final energy consumption in transportation should come from the produced energy through RES (Article 1 of the law).

Land planning for RES/ RES in agricultural land

The Installation of RES power plants must be in compliance with the General and Special Framework regarding the Land Planning and Continuous Development for RES projects.

- Special provisions have also been introduced enabling the installation of RES projects on special areas, which are characterized as agricultural land of high productivity (under certain restrictions thereon). - The installation of PV stations on agricultural areas of high productivity is permitted under the provisions of a joint ministerial decision to be issued by the Ministers of Agricultural, Development and Food and of Environment, Energy and Climate Change and under the prerequisite that they are not extended in an area more than 1% of the specific highly productive land in question (Article 9 of the law).

RES in Buildings. The use of RES in new buildings is mandatory. There is also a provision for energy savings in the building sector (Article 10 of the law).

A new Special Authority exclusively for RES projects and procedures. An Independent Service for RES is developed in the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, which will act as a Special Department and will be responsible for providing information to all potential investors who are interested in RES and their procedures (Article 11 of the law).

Issuance of the Production Licence. The production licensing procedure for RES projects is under the new law simplified. The licence is issued directly by the Regulatory Authority for Energy (“RAE”), which focuses on the technical and economic capability of the particular RES project and is separated from the environmental licensing procedure, which from now on follows at a subsequent stage -namely, the stage of the preliminary environmental assessment (PPEA) is merged with the procedure for the environmental terms approval (EPO).

- At the stage of the issuance of the production licence application, RAE will assess whether the project can be implemented in compliance with the specific provisions of the ministerial decision regarding the "Special Framework for Land- Planning and Continuous Development for RES", in order to safeguard the protection of the environment and especially with the provisions on excluded areas for RES installations, provided that these areas have been determined in a particular and specific manner, as well as with the provisions on the assessment of the grid capacity of the areas where the installation of RES projects is, under the law, allowed (Article 2 para. 1 of the law).

- The Production Licence is issued by RAE instead of the previously competent Ministry of Development. RAE issues a decision on the production licence application within two (2) months from the date of the submission of the relevant application (provided that the application file is complete), otherwise the two-month period of time commences from the date of the file's final completion (Article 2 para. 1 and para. 2 of the law).

- Before issuing its decision on the production licence application, RAE may, in accordance with the new law, cooperate with the System or Grid Administrator for an initial determination of the method and the location for the connection of the plant with the System or the Grid. This determination takes place within twenty (20) days from the date of submission of RAE's request to the above Operator. It must be noted, that any decision taken on the above frame is not binding on the Operator or RAE as regards any grid capacity available at the specific time when the Grid Connection Offer is, in accordance with the law, effected (Article 2 para. 2 of the law).

- Detailed regulations are expected to be issued by ministerial decisions regarding the amendment of the Production Licence Regulations (Ministerial Decision numbered Ä6/Ö1/ÏÉÊ.5707/2007, the "Production Licence Regulation", is still valid), in order to be in compliance with the new provisions (Article 2 para. 13 of the law).

- Term of the Production Licence: The Production Licence is granted for twenty- five (25) years and may be renewed for up to the same number of years (Article 2 para. 4 of the law).

- Deadline for the issuance of the Installation Licence. In case the Installation Licence is not issued within a time- period of thirty (30) months from the issuance of the Production Licence, the validity of the latter automatically ceases and RAE issues a confirmating act to this effect (Article 2 para. 4 of the law).

Exceptions from the obligation to obtain the Production Licence. The following RES installations are mainly excluded from the obligation to request and obtain a Production Licence or any other confirmating decision on the matter (the new law does no longer require an exemption decision which was provided by the previous- no. 3468/2006- law):

(a) Geothermical plants with installed capacity of up to 0.5 MW;

(b) Biomass, biogas and biofuels plants with installed capacity of up to 1 MW;

(c) Photovoltaic or solar thermal plants with installed capacity of up to 1 MWp;

(d) Wind energy plants with installed capacity of up to 100 kW;

(e) High Efficiency Co-generation of Electricity and thermal energy plants with installed capacity of up to 1 MWe.

The capacity limit, set out in cases (c) and (d) as above, does apply for all stations owned by the same persons or legal entities and installed on the same or adjacent places and the pricing thereon is effected on the basis of the total capacity of all the above plants. The said plants are also not obliged to obtain the installation and operation licences but they are not excempted from obtaining the required environmental licences (Article 2 para. 12 and 3 para. 2 of the law).

Following the issuance of the production licence, the interested party may simultaneously apply for the following documents, which are, under the law, required for the issuance of the Installation Licence:

(a) The Grid Connection Offer by the competent Administrator;

(b) The Environmental Terms Approval (known as “EPO”), in accordance with the provisions of the law no. 1650/1986 as amended, and

(c) The Intervention Permit in forests or forestal areas, in case this permit is required, in accordance with the provisions of the law no. 998/1979 and, in general, any other licence(s) that may be required for the acquisition of the rights of the lawful use of the project site (Article 3 para. 2 of the law).

- The new law does not include any significant amendments and/or modifications to the provisions of the previous law regarding the issuance of the Installation and Operation Licences.

The Installation Licence is valid for two (2) years and may be renewed for up to a further period of two years upon request of the holder of the licence (Article 3 para. 2 of the law).

The Operation Licence is valid for at least twenty (20) years and may be renewed for up to the same period of time. Especially with respect to the solar thermal plants, the minimum duration of the Operation Licence is set at twenty five (25) years (Article 3 para. 2 of the law).

The Licensing Procedure & Time Saving within the frame of the new law (Articles 1 and 2 of the new law 3851/2010)

*Licensing Procedure Steps*	*Total Time needed when the file supporting the relevant application is complete*
<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> Production Licence <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->	<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> 3 Months
<!--[if !supportLists]-->(a) <!--[endif]-->Grid Connection offer <!--[if !supportLists]-->(b) <!--[endif]-->Approval of Environmental Terms <!--[if !supportLists]-->(c) <!--[endif]-->Forestal Licence <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->	4 Months
<!--[if !supportLists]-->(a) <!--[endif]-->Installation Licence <!--[if !supportLists]-->(b) <!--[endif]-->Contract for connection <!--[if !supportLists]-->(c) <!--[endif]-->Contract for the purchase of the power produced	4 Months
<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> Operation Licence	<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> 1 Month
<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->	<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->

Grid Connection Offer. The Grid Connection Offer is now granted within four (4) months from the submission of the relevant application and becomes final and binding for the Administrator of the System following the issuance of the EPO or (if the latter is not required for the specific project) upon the issuance of a certification to that effect.

- The Grid Connection Offer is valid for a time- period of four (4) years following its finalisation and is binding on the Grid Administrator and the beneficiary of the Offer (Article 3 para. 2 of the law).

Congested Grid. The areas with congested grid and their potential capacity absorption will be ascertained, under the law, by a RAE decision issued following the suggestion of the competent Grid Administrator and published in accordance with a specific process. -The capacity which may be absorbed in areas with congested grid will be allocated among RES plants which are exempted from the obligation to obtain a production licence and RES plants, which are subject to production licence requirements in accordance with the relevant interest expressed (Article 2 para. 5).

Feed-in tariff regulations- Power Purchase Agreements (PPA)under the new law

- PPA now have a term of twenty (20) years, which may be extended by an agreement in writing between the parties. The PPA for solar thermal stations have, in particular, a twenty-five (25) years duration, which may also be extended by a written agreement.

- The electricity pricing, except the energy produced by PV projects, which are subject to the specific provisions for the feed-in tariffs as set out in Law 3734/2009, is calculated in accordance with the table, which is included hereinbelow. The new law also provides for higher feed-in tariffs, as they are shown in the feed- in tariff list below, for specific newly introduced in Greece RES projects involving technology applications of high quality (such as solar and geothermical plants as well as biomass projects using especially different types of agricultural organic waste and industrial biogas plants).

RES Feed – in Tariffs

(Article 5 of the new law 3851/2010)

 

*Electricity Produced by:*	*Interconnected System* *(Euro/MWh)*	*Non interconnected Islands* *(Euro/MWh)*
Onshore Wind Farms > 50 kW	*87.85*	*99,45*
Wind Energy < 50kW	*250*
Small Hydroelectric plants< 15 MW	*87,85*
PV < 10KW on rooftops	*550*
Solar Thermal plants	*264,85*
Solar Thermal plants with storage system which provides for 2 operational hours	*284,85*
Geothermal energy of low heat	*150*
Geothermal energy of high heat	*99,45*
<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->	<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->	<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->
Biomass projects < 1MW	*200*
1MW <Biomass projects < 5MV	*175*
Biomass projects >5 MW	*150*
Biogas projects < 2MW	*120*
Biogas projects > 2MW	*99,45*
Biogas out of biomass (deriving from agricultural/industrial organic waste) projects < 3MW	*220*
Biogas out of biomass > 3MW	*200*
Co - generation	*87,85*	*99,45*

PV Feed – in Tariffs

 

 

<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> Year Month	Tariffs (€/MWh)
<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> Year Month	Interconnected System		Non Interconnected Islands
<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->	> 100 KW	< = 100KW	<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->	<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->
2010 February	400.00	450.00	450.00
2010 August	392.04	441.05	441.05
2011 February	372.83	419.43	419.43
2011 August	351.01	394.89	394.89
2012 February	333.81	375.54	375.54
2012 August	314.27	353.55	353.55
2013 February	298.87	336.23	336.23
2013 August	281.38	316.55	316.55
2014 February	268.94	302.56	302.56
2014 August	260.97	293.59	293.59
Every Year called as “n” from the year 2015 onwards, when as SMC is called the System Marginal Cost	<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> 1.3SMCn - 1*	<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> 1.4SMCn- 1*	<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> 1.4SMCn - 1*

Offshore Wind Farms.

Installation of offshore wind energy plants is now, under the new law, permitted. For the construction and operation of such projects the interested party must comply with the procedure of Environmental Terms Approval. For the completion of the project and the connection with the relevant grid the procedures of an open public tender is followed.

- In particular, the new law introduces, for the first time in Greece, a special legal framework regarding offshore wind farms in the form of a strategic zone-planning for offshore installations including the special procedure for invitation to public tenders regarding the construction and exploitation of the above form of investments. A Strategic Environmental Assessment will be for this specific purpose issued determining the selected appropriate sites for the installation of the above wind farms as well as prearranging their maximum installed capacity.

The relevant Installation Licences will be, in this respect, issued by the Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change in accordance with specific terms and procedure, which will be defined by a decision of the same Ministry. After the issuance of the above licence, a public tender, at an open procedure, will be procured, in accordance with the provisions regarding the undertaking of public works, for the construction, in accordance with special project financing procedures, of the installation works of the offshore wind farm and the connection of the latter with the System under the full or partial concession of the exploitation of the installation to the contractor of the project for a certain time period, the limits of which are not specified in the law. (Article 6 of the law).

RES projects involving municipal authorities.

The new law does also include specific provisions, which give, during the procedure of the issuance of the production licence, priority - in case there is an interest for specific sites expressed by more than one applicants/RES project companies and in case RAE is not in the position to accept all of them due to reasons of, among others, a congested grid - to applications submitted by legal entities, in the share capital of which municipalities or municipal enterprises are participating - at percentages not less than 33% - and in the territory of which the relevant plants are to be established (Article 2 para. 8 of the law).

 

Combination of RES projects with desalination projects/constructions.

Priority is also given, during the procedure of the issuance of the production licence, to RES projects which are connected with the construction and establishment/operation of units regarding the production of potable water or water of other use through desalination procedures, under specific prerequisites or restrictions - in particular, the concluding of a contract with the local competent authorities (again the participation of a municipal authority is preferable in the relevant projects) is required concerning the disposal of the produced quantities of the water. (Article 2 para. 11 of the law).

Footnotes:

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New Law Numbered 3851/ 2010 (FEK A’85/2010) Concerning The Acceleration Of The Development Of Renewable Energy Sources A BRIEF SUMMARY

The Operation Licence is valid for at least twenty (20) years and may be renewed for up to the same period of time. Especially with respect to the solar thermal plants, the minimum duration of the Operation Licence is set at twenty five (25) years (Article 3 para. 2 of the law).

The Licensing Procedure & Time Saving within the frame of the new law (Articles 1 and 2 of the new law 3851/2010)