Solar energy producers on standby for possible Easter switch-off

The owners of about 7,000 photovoltaic parks must be on standby during Easter, as they may get a three-hour notice from the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network (DEDDIE) to reduce or even stop their production.

Ttheir awareness is considered particularly critical in order to keep the electrical system going and avoid the increased risk of blackouts, without having to take painful measures for consumers, such as controlled power outages, which is why those who do not respond to DEDDIE’s orders are threatened with high fines.

The measure is indicative of the criticality in which the Greek grid will find itself during the four-day period between Good Friday and Easter Monday (April 18-21) and the anxiety of the competent authorities to prevent a possible blackout.

The situation will be reassessed by the Crisis Management Team, which energy watchdog RAEEY has convened on an extraordinary basis for this issue.

The problem is linked on the one hand to the low demand for electricity, which falls even further during Easter holidays, and on the other hand to the high production of RES due to weather conditions (sunshine). This supply-demand imbalance threatens the stability of the system, and the main tool for maintaining it from the administrators’ perspective is the cuts in green production.

Last year, on Easter Sunday, in order to prevent the system from collapsing, grid manager ADMIE had to take all of the RES production that was in operation (approximately 2,500 megawatts) out of the system and also give an order to DEDDIE to take 1,000 MW of photovoltaics out of operation.

This year, the risk of blackouts is increased due to a combination of factors. The installed capacity of RES has increased compared to last year by 2,500 MW, which means that the production surplus will be much more than last year. In addition, the export possibilities that would provide an outlet for this surplus are limited to impossible, because Orthodox Easter coincides with Catholic Easter and therefore demand will be reduced throughout Europe. This condition also entails the risk of increased imports into the Greek system, with the competent authorities examining the possibility of banning imports, making use of the special provisions provided for in the European framework for cross-border trade.