The plan is included in the package of 17 support measures, approved by the Council of Ministers
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In the first months of 2024, applications are expected to begin for the new government scheme “Photovoltaics for All”, which aims to help small and medium-sized households install photovoltaics in their homes without initial capital .
The plan has been included in the package of 17 support measures approved by the Council of Ministers and is seen as a measure that will help households deal with energy accuracy.
According to Commerce Department officials, the final details of the plan have not yet been finalized. The plan targets small and medium-sized homes, with the ceiling set at 1,600 kilowatt-hours of annual consumption, which translates into a PV system of up to 4.2 kilowatts. It is recalled that, as announced, the plan provides for a grant of €1,000 and then repayment of the remaining cost of the system with an installment of €150 through EAC invoices.
The considerations being made are to give a pre-approval from the fund management committee and then the project applicant will proceed with the photovoltaic system installation company.
According to the same sources, an effort will be made to reach an agreement with suppliers so that there is a ceiling on the prices of photovoltaic systems, which currently range between €5,000 and €6,000 depending on the system, and to avoid possible inflationary pressures due to the expected increase demand. Based on these prices and given that the budget of the new plan amounts to €30 million, it is estimated that approximately 6,000 applications will be covered.
In the meantime, following actions by the Ministry in collaboration with the EAC, the time for granting approval has been significantly reduced to four months, while the electronic platform will be developed in order to respond to the applications of the new project.
At the same time, it is estimated that there is capacity in the market to meet the increased demand with several PV supply and installation companies, while there are no indications of potential shortages.
Regarding the stability of the network, it is recalled that there is an agreement between the Transmission System Operator and the Distribution System Operator for the installation of a remote control system (ripple control), in order to protect the security of the electrical network.
It will run in parallel with the other plans of the RES – EXE fund
The new plan will run in parallel with the other two sponsorship plans, i.e. the €1,500 grant for the installation of a system with own funds and bonus in case of investment in roof thermal insulation and the scheme for vulnerable groups with coverage of 100% of the system costs and additional bonus in case of investment in roof thermal insulation.
At this point, however, there is still a question as to whether the reduced grant of €1,000 will be a sufficient disincentive to prevent potential applicants who have the ability to install a PV system with equity, receiving a grant of €1,500, from opting for the PV for All scheme, thus depriving them of the opportunity to a household, which does not have the initial capital, from benefiting from the scheme.
