EC approves funding plan for 900 MW of energy storage in Greece

The European Commission (EC) has given the thumbs up to Greece’s plan to spend EUR 341 million (USD 339.8m) on the construction and operation of up to 900 MW of grid-connected energy storage systems.

Part of the proposed budget will come from Greece’s Recovery and Resilience Facility, the EC said on Monday.

Under the plan, Greece will hold competitive tenders to select projects eligible to get funding. The support will be allocated as an investment grant in the construction phase and an annual incentive during the system’s operational life, for a term of 10 years.

Energy storage developers will be awarded contracts by the end of 2023 and will be required to bring the proposed facilities online by end-2025.

The capacity deployment programme is intended to support the integration of more renewable energy generation plants into the national electricity network.

“Increasing available electricity storage capacity in the system is key to make grids more flexible and better prepared for a future in which renewables form the backbone of the decarbonised electricity mix,” said Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition.

Greece aims to reach a 70% renewables share in the power consumed locally by 2030. Last year, the EC endorsed the country’s EUR-30.5-billion recovery and resilience facility, of which 37.5% has been earmarked for initiatives related to the national climate goals.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 0.996)

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