Milestone Commissioning in Oinofyta

Elsewedy Electric has successfully connected a 50 MW / 100 MWh standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) to Greece's transmission grid in Oinofyta, Central Greece. The €41.9 million project is supported by a contract for difference (CfD) from Greece’s first standalone energy storage auction. Financed by a €18.2 million package from the National Bank of Greece, alongside a €10 million grant and €5.5 million loan from the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility, it marks the Egypt-based firm’s first BESS in Europe.

Ambitious National Capacity Targets

Greece currently operates approximately 600 MW of battery storage across 13 active facilities. The national strategy is highly ambitious, aiming to reach 1.5 GW by 2027 and scale up to between 5 GW and 7 GW by 2030. To support this trajectory, the Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy recently extended the deadline for winners of the third standalone BESS auction to submit grid readiness declarations by mid-December. This extension applies to four-hour BESS projects in the coal transition regions of Western Macedonia and the Peloponnese. The three standalone storage tenders have already secured contracts for 900 MW overall, with major winners including HELLENiQ Renewables, PPC, Amber Energy, and EDF's Heliothema.

Support for SMEs and Distributed Storage

Beyond utility-scale projects, the government is also fostering distributed storage. A provisional list of beneficiaries for an SME support program was published, allocating €8.15 million in subsidies. This initiative supports 209 firms with 28.2 MW of operating power and 49.3 MWh of storage capacity, designed to back up 30.8 MW of solar PV installations. The broader package was intended to cover 333 MW of battery capacity with €153 million, signaling strong governmental commitment to decentralized energy resilience.

Greece's comprehensive approach, combining large-scale auctions with targeted SME subsidies, positions the country as an emerging leader in Southern Europe's BESS market.

Source: Balkan Green Energy News

This article was assisted by AI analysis. Please refer to the original source for official information.