August 27, 2025
by in News

Investors in standalone batteries in Greece request extension as deadline looms

September 30 marks a crucial deadline for standalone battery projects selected through Greece’s first two auctions.

Investors in battery projects of about 700 MW in total are rushing to submit their so-called declarations of readiness to the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO or ADMIE) by the end of September. After that point, the projects must become operational by the end of the year.

Investors claim that a lengthy licensing process, combined with a one year equipment procurement span, means many will be unable to reach the finish line in time. Licensing delays also caused problems with financing.

If a project breaches the deadlines, it will be subject to the loss of the letter of guarantee, resulting in losses that can even reach several million euros, depending on the capacity of the battery.

The deadline for commissioning for projects selected through the third auction, which amount to 200 MW, is April 30.

Market warns of insufficient time for batteries

The Hellenic Association of Energy Storage Systems (HAESS) has asked for more time and a new final declarations deadline, end-July 2026, for the projects selected through all three auctions. It added that the investors of the first two rounds only managed to acquire connection terms by mid-year.

The deadlines are binding to secure funding from the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the organization explained. It means that if the timeframe is breached, selected projects will not receive support.

So far there has been no official statement about the possibility of extending the deadlines. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether the Ministry of Environment and Energy will maintain a strict stance, as Greece urgently needs storage to address ever higher curtailments.

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August 4, 2025
by in News

APSTE: High state fees for PV panels, energy storage batteries inhibit electricity price decrease in Bulgaria

The Association for Production, Storage and Trading of Electricity (APSTE) warned that the government’s disproportionately high fees for photovoltaic panels and energy storage batteries are preventing the possibility of having permanently low electricity prices in Bulgaria. They also threaten the implementation of key projects under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP).

The fees that the government charges don’t reflect the real recycling cost, given that they are five to 10 times higher than the average fees in the European Union, according to APSTE.

The product fee for solar panels is currently BGN 0.90 (EUR 0.46) per kilogram – over 11 times higher than the same levy in the Netherlands.

It increases the price of panels by about 35%, which leads to about a 10% increase in the cost of turnkey solar power plants, APSTE stressed.

The fees threaten the installation of 9,000 MWh of storage capacity

The impact is similar for lithium-ion batteries. With a rate of BGN 5.50 (EUR 2.81) per kilogram, the fee makes batteries nearly 19% more expensive. Another issue is that the cost isn’t foreseen in the business models of the projects financed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, according to the association.

It threatens the profitability of 9,000 MWh of storage capacity set to come online by the end of 2026, putting at risk one of the most important energy reforms in the country, the organization underlined.

Of note, in April, the Ministry of Energy approved EUR 587 million in subsidies for developers of 82 standalone battery storage projects, for an overall 9.71 GWh in capacity. The scheme is part of NRRP.

Gazdov: The government artificially increases the price of a panel by 35% and that of batteries by 19% 

The fees jeopardize future investments in battery energy storage systems (BESS), which are key to the operation of the electricity system and to reducing the price of electricity for end users, according to APSTE.

“It is absurd that the state artificially increases the price of a panel by 35% and that of batteries by 19% – just when solar power plants and storage systems are starting to provide a permanently low price for electricity,” APSTE chairman Nikola Gazdov stated.

In his words, there is no economic logic for the government’s fee for recycling batteries and solar panels in Bulgaria to be 10 times higher than in Central and Western Europe.

A similar case has occurred in Croatia. E.ON Croatia raised the issue of high waste fees on solar panels of EUR 300 per ton, up to six times more than in other European Union countries.

Outdated regulation threatens technologies that provide lower bills for people and industry

APSTE stressed that Bulgaria already covers a large part of its daily electricity consumption with solar energy, tumbling wholesale power prices to extremely low levels. Now BESS is starting to transfer the effect of cheap solar electricity to the evening peak consumption, when prices are traditionally higher.

At a time when Bulgarian households and businesses need cheap energy the most, outdated regulation with unreasonably high fees threatens technologies that already provide lower bills for people and industry, APSTE noted.

The association called on the government to urgently revise the regulation on product taxes, with the aim of bringing it to average EU levels:

  • Between EUR 50 and EUR 100 (BGN 100 to BGN 200) per ton, or BGN 0.10 to BGN 0.20 per kilogram of PV panels.
  • Between EUR 600 and EUR 1,000 per ton (BGN 1,200 to BGN 2,000 per tonne), or BGN 1.2 to BGN 2 per kilogram of lithium-ion batteries.

APSTE has submitted a letter addressing the matter to the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Energy, and the Ministry of Environment and Water.

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June 7, 2025
by in News

Eric Scotto: Falling storage and renewables costs will help meet rising electricity demand

Declining energy storage costs and expanding renewables capacity will enable Europe to meet the challenge of intensified electrification and rising consumption, according to Eric Scotto, CEO of Akuo Energy. Thanks to falling costs, renewable energy has already won the race against nuclear power, he emphasized at Belgrade Energy Forum 2025.

The price of energy storage today is ten times lower than it was ten years ago, and the density of storage has tripled in the last three years, Eric Scotto said. Speaking at a panel on decarbonization in Southeast Europe, he explained that the operating power of a battery system in a standard TEU container, twenty feet or 6.1 meters long, now reaches 6 MW.

“Today, the challenge is flexibility. We know how to produce cheap, but what is important is to reconcile offer and demand… Thanks to storage, we can do that today,” Scotto said on the sidelines of the conference.

Renewables have already won the race against nuclear energy

Talking about the cost of generation from renewable sources and nuclear power, he argued that the race has already been decided. “It’s over. We won the race. Renewable is the cheapest way to produce energy,” he underscored.

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Scotto emphasized that the Balkan region, which is lagging in the energy transition, can now enjoy the benefits of the latest and cheapest renewable energy and storage technologies. “This morning, some people were saying that we are late in the Balkans, and that’s the best news we could get this morning because renewables are the cheapest way to produce energy, so we’re going to benefit from the latest and most efficient technologies… from solar, from wind, from hydro, and storage,” claims the top man of the French renewable energy company.

The slow energy transition is good news for the Balkans

Scotto stressed the importance of collaboration among Western Balkan countries, adding that he hopes to see more of it in the coming days, weeks, and months. “We have the skills and we have the know-how in those countries. We need to share, we need to work more together, and, of course, we need more international interconnection,” he said.

Akuo Energy has secured a PPA for its Bela Anta 2 wind project in Serbia

Talking about Akuo Energy, Scotto said that it brings to the region its knowledge and experience from numerous project around the world. The France-based independent global renewable energy producer recently signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Serbia’s state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) for the Bela Anta 2 wind project.

With a total installed capacity of 80 MW, Bela Anta 2 was among the awarded projects in Serbia’s second round of renewable energy auctions, held in early 2025, securing a contract for difference (CfD).

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