Solar Curtailment in Greece: Current Status, Financial Impact, and Future Outlooks

Stelios Psomas is a leading Greek PV consultant and lobbyist. He started campaigning for PV in Greece already in 1995 (as a Greenpeace energy & climate campaigner). Since then he has pushed for the introduction of support schemes for PV and the opening of the market through his role as a policy advisor for the Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic Companies (HELAPCO). He has been actively involved in the introduction of feed-in tariffs, self-consumption support schemes, auction schemes and long-term energy planning in Greece. In particular, he was involved in the drafting of most of the PV-related legislation in Greece, and has also acted as an advisor to the banking sector, facilitating the financing of PV systems.

Dr S. Kapellos is a graduate of the Chemical Department of the University of Athens. He received a PhD on the field of Physical Chemistry from the same Institution. Between 1993 and 2007, he had the opportunity to fill various managerial posts within the BP Hellas Organization: Quality, Health, Safety and Environment, Human Resources, Customer Services, Pricing and Credit, Retail Fuels District Manager Northern Greece. In 2007, he is appointed as the CEO of BP Solar Hellas, to setup the new business. Since 2010, he works for HELLENiQ RENEWABLES, 100% owned by HELLENiQ ENERGY Group (Former Hellenic Petroleum). He currently holds the position of the Chief Operating Officer and BoD member of the company. Τhe RES portfolio of HELLENiQ RENEWABLES is comprised of more than 4 GW of PV, Wind and Storage Projects, of which 241 MW PV and 100 MW Wind in operation in Greece and 41 MW PV in Cyprus. HELLENiQ RENEWABLES recently announced the acquisition of an under construction 180 MW PV project in Kozani and another one 211 MW in Romania, both to be fully operational in 2025. Adding up another PV project of 200 MW in Evros and the 100 MW Battery Storage that has been won in the last auction, both to be operational in 2025, the target of HELLENiQ to operate 1 GW RES projects in 2025 has already been secured. Dr. S. Kapellos has published several scientific articles in international magazines during his academic career and several articles on subjects related to RES, Solar Technology and Energy Policy for newspapers, relevant magazines and e-media. Since 2008, he is being an elected member of the board of the Hellenic Association of PV companies (HELAPCO) and since April 2013 Chairman of the board of the Association. Since April 2021 he has been elected as President of the Energy Committee of the Hellenic-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

Pandelis Biskas is a Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is considered an expert in power systems modelling and in the modelling of European electricity markets. His deep knowledge of the European electricity markets’ operation in both regulatory framework and in daily operation has provided him a key role in the Greek wholesale electricity market, where he is widely known for unit commitment and economic dispatch applications. His research interests expand in optimization models for electricity market clearing and assets’ bidding strategies. He worked for 4.5 years as a Business Development Engineer in the Electricity Market Department of the Hellenic Transmission System Operator, in which the daily business of the Greek wholesale electricity market was performed (Capacity rights auctions, scheduling of imports/exports, Day-Ahead Scheduling, Dispatching Scheduling of production units). During this period, he participated in working groups for the harmonization of HTSO with the provisions of the “Greek Grid and Exchange Code”, in commissions for the “Mathematical Formulation of the Day-Ahead Scheduling problem”, and in groups for the harmonization of the market rules in the Central-South European (CSE) Region (including Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and Greece). He was the delegate of HTSO for the development of the Day-Ahead Scheduling solver (in the cooperation with AREVA T&D), which is still applied for the clearing of the day-ahead market in Greece.

Stefanos is a Senior Manager at Baringa’s Energy & Resources sector. He has nine years of experience on power market modelling and projections for thermal, hydro, solar and wind assets globally. Prior to joining Baringa, Stefanos completed a 5-year diploma in electrical engineering at the National Technical University of Athens and an MSc in Sustainable Energy Futures at Imperial College London. Stefanos advised and supported multiple clients (energy companies, research organisations, utilities, developers) on power market analysis, asset evaluation, decarbonisation pathways, renewable energy cost analysis amongst other strategic and commercial topics. From 2018 onwards, Stefanos has increasingly focused on the development of Baringa’s European power market model and associated client subscription products. He is one of Baringa’s experts for the Greek and Cypriot power markets, leading the development of the wholesale market models and renewable curtailment analysis for both markets.