The growth of installed solar energy capacity in Greece remained almost non-existent in the second half of 2013 with no new large projects added in December at all as a government moratorium took hold.
The latest figures from the Hellenic Transmission System Operator SA (HTSO) show that between July and December of 2013, 53MW of grid installed solar was connected and just 9MW of rooftop PV installs under 10kW in size.
In the first half of the year, 596MW was connected to the grid and a further 41MW of rooftop PV installed.
In total the country ended the year with 2,420MW of solar power capacity on the mainland. The Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator SA (HEDNO) estimates that by the end of July 2013, there was a further 148.5MW on the non-interconnected Greek islands.
Greece retroactively cut its feed-in tariff (FiT) by around 44% effective from 1 June 2013 and applied to all systems installed from February of that year. A moratorium on approvals for larger projects was also introduced and it would appear the backlog of already approved projects is now reaching its end.
The Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic Companies (HELAPCO), wrote to the government in September calling for an end to the block on approvals for larger projects and a net-metering style support mechanism to be introduced.
