The Greek Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) has awarded seven wind projects with a total capacity of 171 megawatts (MW) in the country’s first onshore wind auction, WindEurope said Thursday.
The price range of the winning bids was €68–€72 per megawatt-hour (MWh), with the weighted average price coming in at €69.53/MWh, the association said in a press release.
It noted that the auction was oversubscribed, with 14 wind projects with a total capacity of 308 MW bidding in.
Of the winning bids, four projects are in Northern Greece, two in the center of the country and one on the island of Andros, the statement said.
Greek daily Ekathimerini said the domestic players appeared 'unprepared' for the entry of foreign investors who offered 'considerably lower and clearly more competitive rates'.
'In wind power projects, the bids made in the context of the tenders were 22.7 percent below the starting price, while in photovoltaics the prices were 20.2 percent lower,' the daily said in a report published late Wednesday.
According to the report, the lowest prices (between €62.97 and €62.99 MWh) in photovoltaics came from the subsidiaries of German group ABO, which secured five projects with a total capacity of 45 MW out of a total auctioned capacity of 53 MW.
'Portugal's EDP was also aggressive,' Ekathimerini said, adding its Renovaveis subsidiary participated in the wind projects tenders, and offered a price of €68.18/MWh after a starting price of €90/MWh, securing a 44.6 MW wind park.
WindEurope Chief Policy Officer Pierre Tardieu said the prices for wind were lower than expected, 'which shows the industry is regaining confidence in the Greek market and anticipates costs reductions in the short term when these projects will achieve financial closing and contracting'.
'It also shows wind should play a significant role in decarbonizing Greece’s energy system. These projects will unlock new investments in the Greek economy and create jobs in the supply chain,' he added.
According to Tardieu, wind deployment can get even cheaper and Greece can benefit even further from recent major progress in wind technology.
'For this, improvements need to be made to lower the risks and costs of capital. We need to see clarity on renewables spatial planning, plus further visibility on wind deployment volumes, particularly post-2020,' he said, calling on the Greek government to include 'ambitious commitments' on onshore and offshore wind in its national energy and climate plan due for submission by the end of 2019.
Greece had announced plans in May to auction 2.6 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2020, in addition to the 2.6 GW already installed in the country.
By Hale Turkes
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr