“The red line we draw is nothing more than the claim we have for a legal right,” the Western Greece regional governor stressed to Peloponnisos FM 104.1 about the Region’s decision to even resort to legal means to obtain terms of association for the energy communities plan.
THE Nektarios Farmakis informed the regional council, about the recent meeting of agencies and information they had from the Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy Alexandra Sdoukou for the apollo programas well as for the plan of the Energy Communities prepared by PDE with the participation of 66 local agencies. As he mentioned, the plan of the Region predates the “Apollo” program and is a pioneering initiative that was included in 2023 in the list of the UN General Assembly with the bodies that adopt the best practices of sustainable development.
Mr. Farmakis underlined that in time, the District completed the required studies for the creation of a large cooperative photovoltaic park, based on the current legislation and promptly submitted a request to receive connection conditions to DEDDIE. He has been waiting since July 2022, but, suddenly, the plan was sidelined, against the “Apollo” promoted by the Ministry of the Environment, and it is obvious that it was based on that of the Region of Western Greece.
For Mr. Farmakis the differences between the two plans are substantialwith that of the Region of Western Greece, to be clearly more beneficialthat is why, as he said, he set the “red line”, because “we serve in an organized State, with legal security, laws and procedures. We have every legal right to claim the success of this project because we took all the legal steps and on time.”
Mr. Farmakis also emphasized that she the insistence on the PDE plan does not arise as a personal matterinsisting that “we dialogue, we don’t politicize and we don’t get into polemics. We are here to discuss and find the best solution, in order for the citizen of Western Greece to win win. All the rest, about ribbons, are coffee-house discussions in which I do not participate.”
At the meeting of the regional council, Mr. Farmakis also presented the results of an economic and technical study prepared by the Regionaccording to which, the energy benefit for the 66 entities of the Energy Communities of the Region of Western Greece would reach 72.47%, while the benefit from participating in the “Apollo” program would be only 24.09%. At this point, however, he pointed out that the Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy assured that the energy benefit for the agencies from the “Apollo” program will be approximately 50%while in addition and after the detailed dialogue that took place, the deputy minister stated that the ministry will grant connection conditions to the energy communities of the Region as a matter of priority, subject to a change in the netting methodology (net-billing instead of net-metering), while she pointed out that the energy communities can operate in parallel and additively with the “Apollo” program.
The Region requested a time extension for the establishment of the “Apollo” energy community and awaits the relevant acceptance with the issuance of a ministerial decision. Following this, Mr. Farmakis underlined that it was decided to set up a technical council between the PDE and the ministry that will examine all the parameters and look for the best solution.
Spyros Skiadaresis
The head of the opposition Spyros Skiadaresis the Ministry of the Environment complainedfor attempting to de facto nullify energy communities and existing planning. He pointed out that “it is unthinkable to overturn a years-long plan, which in fact had above all social acceptance and consensus, putting the local community itself in the foreground for the first time. We expect the regional authority to proceed with all the legal and foreseen moves announced by the regional governorin order not to miss an important opportunity for the energy autonomy of Western Greece”. Mr. Skiadaresis described it as a sad and major oversight by the Deputy Minister Mrs. Sdoukou not to invite the rest of the factions of the regional council to the meeting held in the Region and emphasized that, “these are emblematic projects and necessary for the survival of the rural world, but also of the OTAs and DEWAs of all Western Greece, but also of the country more broadly, which could immediately start. We must all coordinate together to demand the activation of the energy communities, through which the problem of the high energy costs of agricultural production will be solved, among others. The “APOLLO” plan is anything but! The question is energy democracy”.
Kostas Karpetas
The head of the minor minority faction Kostas Karpetas talked about communication portfolio, blamed the regional authority, because the opposition factions did not have in their hands, the analytical proposal to be able to make comparisons between the proposed scenarios. In fact, Mr. Karpetas emphasized that the government “voted at night” for the “Apollo” plan and sent the deputy minister Alexandra Sdoukou to Patras, to impose it on the local bodies.
The leader of the KKE faction, Sotiris Parisis rejected both plans -especially “Apollo”- saying that in essence they will offer the OTAs and the other organizations, as ready customers, to the providers who will undertake the construction of the RES.
Sotiris Parisis
Any reduction in energy costs, Mr. Parisis added, will not be passed on to consumption or to any reduction in municipal fees, but will aim to close holes in the underfunding of OTAs and other deficits.
In practice, whatever is saved will end up in the pockets of business groups, Mr. Parisis said, citing the argument that, where energy communities have been created, nowhere has cheap electricity been secured for popular needs.
Conversely, on the other hand, big business groups enjoy scandalous benefits, privileges and super profits, while the people suffer from energy poverty.
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