The five savings plans to be announced by the government

By Harry Floudopoulos

A total of five programs – interventions aimed at subsidizing or providing incentives for energy savings are included in the package to be announced by the government in the coming days. These programs are part of the overall energy saving plan, with the aim of reducing energy consumption and consequently energy costs for households, businesses and the public sector. What are these programs that are expected to run in the near future?

First, the program to replace old energy-intensive electrical appliances, amounting to 150 million euros, with 350 thousand beneficiaries. It concerns the replacement of air conditioners, refrigerators and freezers. The program is expected to be announced in June and is estimated to help the average household save around 1000 kilowatt hours per year about 25% of total annual consumption, with a reduction of 150 to 300 euros per year.

Secondly, the “Electra” program for energy saving interventions in public buildings. The total budget of the program will reach 640 million euros, of which 470 will come from the EIB and the rest from the Recovery Fund. In total, the program is expected to mobilize funds over 900 million euros and create significant activity for the construction industry. It is estimated that at least 500 public buildings will be renovated.

Thirdly, the “save for businesses” program of 450 million euros. In total, more than 950m euros will be mobilized for the energy upgrade of thousands of companies, with an emphasis on small and medium-sized enterprises. The new program will include a separate budget of 100m euros to save energy in the tourism sector.

Fourth, the “roof photovoltaic” program, a program that is already running and will last until December 31, 2023. It concerns home systems for power generation that is injected into the grid with a maximum contract duration of 20 years and a maximum power of 6KWp ( 3KWp for non-interconnected islands). The amount of the fee for the produced energy is 87 euros per megawatt hour.

Fifth, the “photovoltaic in business” program and the “energy metering” (net metering) program. To reduce energy costs, self-generation with energy offset is promoted. For this purpose, HEDNO will conduct a study to find and commit to the network space that will be divided into 4 categories: independent producers, processing and industry, households and farmers. Finally, there will be a 40% subsidy program for businesses to install photovoltaics on rooftops or elsewhere.