Legislative framework for photovoltaics in Greece: A review of the sectorʹs development

The Law 3468/2006 provided for first time in 2006 appealing feed-in tariff (FiT) incentives for photovoltaics (PVs) in Greece. The response of the national market was immediate in less than 2 yearsʹ time. Two subsequent laws formed an even more attractive investment and licensing context both for field and building installations, by introducing additional guarantees and improved grid-connection procedures. However, the unexpectedly large amount of applications submitted until 2011, with aggregate PV capacities which exceeded the national target for 2020 caused continuously tremendous delays in grid-connection processes. Undoubtedly, the effectiveness of this legislative framework cannot be judged solely by the response of prospective investors. In that sense, main objectives of this paper are to present and discuss about the effective provisions as well as the major weaknesses of the FiT legislation in Greece since 2006, associated mainly with its attractiveness to investors and its cost-effectiveness towards preserving and supporting the Greek PV market. The paper concludes with a technoeconomic assessment, which evaluates PV projectsʹ viability, especially those ones whose provision of grid-connection offer was postponed several times.