The new Spatial Plan for Renewable Energy Sources is in its final stages, with the bulk of the changes focused on wind farms, including altitude limits for installations on high mountains, restrictions on the most popular tourist islands, and stricter exceptions for protected areas.
Wind power will take center stage in the planned changes to the new framework, which, according to reports, is set to be released for public consultation by the Ministry of Environment and Energy next week; the direction will be restrictive, without, as the same sources assure, harming the sector’s growth.
One of the most critical issues facing this market concerns the altitude limit for wind turbine installation, with industry executives believing the threshold will be set below 1,500 meters.
Various scenarios have been leaked from time to time regarding this issue, ranging from altitudes above 1,300 meters up to nearly 2,000 meters; however, all indications suggest that a middle ground will be chosen, with the aim of not excluding areas with high wind potential, according to government sources.
Most likely, however, projects that have already received an environmental permit (AEPO) will be exempt from horizontal restrictions, such as a 1,500-meter height limit . This, in turn, means that wind farms that have completed the relevant process—that is, have gathered all necessary approvals and are simply awaiting the final decision—will also be exempt.
Logic dictates that these projects are not at risk of cancellation if they “violate” the limits that will be set.
The wind energy market, however, has opposed the measure and warns that a drastic reduction in available areas could significantly limit actual investment opportunities. It is of the view that “…blind, blanket restrictions in areas where this resource is essentially abundant in our country” will significantly harm investments and“… will be the final blow to the sector," as ELETAEN President Panagiotis Ladakakos recently stated .
On the other hand, as sources at the Ministry of Environment and Energy note, the country has currently licensed more wind farms than it will need by 2050. Active wind farms, along with those that have received a final grid connection offer and those that have submitted a request for a final grid connection offer, total approximately 16 GW. The target, based on the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), is 8.9 GW for 2030 and 13 GW for 2050.
How the two Spatial Plans are linked
It is significant, however, that the new RES Spatial Plan will be announced just a few days after the announcements on Thursday regarding the Tourism Spatial Plan by the relevant ministers, Olga Kefalogianni and Stavros Papastavrou.
The two spatial plans are directly linked, as the uncertainty regarding the development of renewable energy projects on islands with significant tourism development has, to date, put the brakes on quite a few “green” investments. The question on the “green” market’s mind is whether the priority given to tourism in recent announcements could further limit the potential for developing wind farms in popular destinations that also have strong wind potential.
In any case, it must be taken for granted that stricter restrictions on the development of wind farms will be imposed on islands with high levels of tourism development, such as the Cyclades, while it remains to be seen how Crete will be treated, as it had been selected to host more wind farms under the planning of the previous political leadership of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (Skylakakis).
The new Spatial Plan must also incorporate the provisions of the “RED III” passed last week in Parliament, which establishes so-called “Renewable Energy Acceleration Areas,” i.e., specific geographical zones (Go-to-Areas) within which permitting procedures are simplified.
This specific bill makes a general reference to the areas, the establishment of which is a European obligation, and obviously their precise definition with coordinates requires the preparation of a special study, something that has not been done so far. It is most likely that the areas will be incorporated in general terms.
For wind energy, this means they will be identified with the “Wind Priority Areas” known from the past, which in the case of Crete, for example, currently number 58, with last year’s draft proposing an increase to 67—a development that remains to be seen.