Financial incentives for photovoltaics

The increase in wholesale electricity rates has mostly been absorbed this month by the main power suppliers, including market leaders Public Power Corporation and Protergia, so on Friday the Energy Ministry announced a minimal subsidy for power bills amounting to 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour for nine out of 10 households in Greece for December.

The Ministry of Environment and Energy announces today, Friday, December 6, 2024, the amount of the emergency support for electricity bills concerning December consumption.

Specifically, the subsidies for electricity in residential tariffs and for all primary and secondary residences, without income criteria and regardless of the supplier, are structured as follows:

The government is set to implement a €100 million subsidy package to shield households and businesses from soaring wholesale electricity prices.

The plan includes direct subsidies and tax breaks for consumers, combined with a temporary tax on electricity producers' profits. 

The Ministry of Environment and Energy on Tuesday announced a boost in electricity bill support for more than 700,000 vulnerable households in October.

For households under the Social Residential Tariff, the subsidy amounts to 30 euros per megawatt-hour or 3 cents/kWh for the entire consumption.

At 1.6 cents per kilowatt hour, the extraordinary support on electricity bills for August consumption is set at 1.6 cents per kilowatt hour, the Ministry of Environment and Energy announced.

Thus, the final price for the majority of consumers (which depends on the tariff of each provider) is formed below 15 cents per kilowatt hour.

Public Power Corporation's green tariff for July rose 14% compared to June, versus a 22% increase in the wholesale price of electricity during the same period.

Eurostat's latest findings have shed light on the shifting landscape of household energy prices in the European Union, with Bulgaria emerging as a frontrunner in affordability. According to the report released on Thursday, Bulgaria secured the title of having the EU's second-lowest household electricity prices in the second half of 2023, trailing only behind Hungary.

The time to choose colored electricity tariffs has arrived and consumers will be pleasantly surprised, since the prices across the range of rates are lower than what they have been paying until now with subsidies.

As consumers struggle to find which set of power rates is ideal for them out of the "green," "blue," "yellow" and "orange" categories to be introduced from January 1, blue tariffs appear to be beating the green and yellow floating tariff.

Special tariffs will come into effect on January 1 for consumers who use smart meters for electricity consumption, designed by electricity suppliers in compliance with the decisions of the Ministry of Environment and Energy for the new framework that will determine retail electricity as of 2024.