Independent power producer (IPP) Cero Generation has reached commercial operations at its 100MW Delfini solar PV plant in Greece.
Cero, which is part of Macquarie’s Green Investment Group, had already secured a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Swiss power company Axpo. At the time, the IPP claimed the PPA for the Delfini project, located in Prosotsani Drama, was the first in Greece to secure a PPA and not leverage any government subsidies on electricity costs for a utility-scale solar PV plant.
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The project is also among the first Greek renewable energy projects to benefit from the European Union’s Next Generation Recovery and Resilience Facility, according to the company.
Ameresco and Sunel Group’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) subsidiary, Ameresco Energy Hellas, conducted the EPC services for the Delfini project, which has been built on the side of a mountain.
The IPP is currently present in several European countries, including Spain, Italy and the UK. In Greece, the company has a portfolio of nearly 5GW of renewable energy projects in different stages. Earlier this year, the IPP’s Greek subsidiary received approval from the Regulatory Regulatory Authority for Energy, Waste and Water (RAEWW) to change its producer certificate for its 370MW solar PV plant to add energy storage.
The BESS will have a nameplate capacity of 749MWh, although it will not be able to receive power from the grid, but only deliver electricity to it.
As more capacity is added to the grid and interest in renewables grows in the Southern European country, Greece has been faced with increased curtailments in 2024 (Premium access). Several panellists who attended Large Scale Solar Southern Europe in Greece last July, spoke about the Greek market, its challenges and how energy storage could help alleviate PV curtailments in the coming years.
