Greece is pursuing an ambitious island energy transition program. pv magazine visited the island of Tilos for a firsthand account of how one community has blazed a trail in the energy transition.
Israel’s recent strikes have reportedly destroyed or damaged 400,000 to 500,000 solar panels, costing Lebanon an estimated 150 MW to 200 MW of installed solar capacity, according to Pierre El Khoury, former director and president of the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC).
The Greek government, the European Commission, and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have launched the Islands Decarbonisation Fund. They have initially secured €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion) to finance decarbonization projects across the Greek islands.
The Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic Companies (Helapco) says new figures reveal that Greece’s solar sector is growing faster than expected and could reach the nation’s 2030 target of 13.5 GW by 2026. By the end of the year, its cumulative PV capacity could exceed 9.2 GW.
The Greek government decided to auction 100 MW less capacity than initially sought and to offer more money to the awarded projects than expected.
The Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic Energy Producers (Spef) is pushing the Greek government to stop issuing new grid connection licenses for renewable energy systems to address the nation’s escalating power curtailment issue.
Greece’s energy storage market is hot with a number of new policies paving the way to new applications in the market. The government is now working a new plan, which will allow the colocation of batteries with existing solar plants as well as standalone, in front of the meter battery energy storage systems.
Bulgaria has installed between 40 MWh and 50 MWh battery energy storage capacity to date. However, a new national legislation as well as funds provided through the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility could see the country install another 1 GWh over the next two years.
Masdar has agreed to acquire initially 67% of Greece’s Terna Energy, a developer of clean energy infrastructure, in a €3.2 billion ($3.4 billion) deal.
A recent law voted by Greece’s Parliament has closed the net metering scheme to the vast majority of electricity users. The government aims to replace it with a net billing scheme, which the photovoltaic sector has been waiting for more than a year.