Greece’s Law 4964/2022 on the development of offshore wind farms (OWF) sets forth a two-stage licensing procedure:
HEREMA has been tasked with the designation of OWFODA. This mandate entails ensuring that wind projects in the Greek seas are subject to the most stringent international standards of environmental and marine protection. This is why stakeholder engagement is an essential part of our approach as is partnering with leading research organisations. We believe that investing in mutual feedback activities based on collecting and evaluating data, responding to stakeholders' opinions and concerns, and proactively informing them about the measures we have in place is essential to long-term value creation.
Two (2) months following our designation of the Organised Areas for OWF Development and the issuance of the relevant Presidential Decree, HEREMA will establish the launch and deadline for the submission of applications by interested investors for Exploration Licenses within the OWFODA. Investors will be entitled to apply for an Exploration License in more than one OWFODA, and applications will be submitted through a digital platform overseen and managed by HEREMA.
Eligible applicants include natural persons or legal entities established in an EU Member State or third countries that have entered into multilateral or bilateral international agreements with the EU in the renewable energy sector. All eligible applications will be evaluated by HEREMA based on specific criteria with respect to their professional, technical, and financial competence.
If all criteria are met, HEREMA will issue the corresponding Exploration License within thirty (30) days from the submission date, which will automatically expire after three (3) years from the date of its issuance, upon the relevant request from its owner, or upon a decision to cancel said license. The issuance of an Exploration License will require the submission of a letter of guarantee (€10,000/MW).
Within a period of two (2) years from the end date of the first round of applications for Exploration Licenses, HEREMA will launch a public consultation for the OWF installation areas within each OWFODA. These areas will be determined by a relevant Ministerial Decision.
Within four (4) months from the issuance of the relevant Ministerial Decision, a competitive bidding process will be launched by the Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) for the installation of OWF projects and the granting of operational aid on the basis of a sliding feed-in-premium. Investors will be called upon to submit distinct bids for each OWF installation area (within the OWFODA), for which such investor holds a previous Exploration License. At this stage, the selection criterion will be the lowest bid price (in €/MWh) for the compensation of the energy produced through the OWF project, developed within the OWFODA. The successful investor will be granted the exclusive rights for the licensing, development, and exploitation of the OWF project.
