Photo: Thomas Galler on Unsplash

Southeastern Europe did well in Ernst and Young’s latest semiannual report on the best renewable energy markets, and Greece is leading the way, as it is holding in the top tier. Authors of the 60th edition of the Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI) said the need for energy resilience has never been more urgent.

“Ramping up renewable generation, accelerating energy diversification and increasing energy storage are global priorities amid heightened geopolitical tensions, supply chain shortages, an increase in extreme weather events, and soaring natural gas prices… Decentralization has been talked about for decades but, as markets seek to rapidly integrate more renewables and improve grid flexibility, it is encouraging that now, with stronger regulatory support, we are beginning to see real progress,” the document reads.

While connecting waves of localized power sources has long been a challenge for operators of centralized networks, smart grids are moving into focus, according to the report. They are offering bidirectional flows of electricity and data using two-way communication and control capabilities to optimize the flow of energy along a network and enable real-time responses to change in demand, EY said.

The United States is again the most attractive renewable energy market, followed by mainland China. The top ten remained more or less the same. Germany is third, after it switched places with the United Kingdom, ranked fourth. Next are France, Australia, India, Spain, Japan and the Netherlands, in that order.

Greece stayed in lower segment of PPA subindex of 30 countries

Greece landed on the 16th spot, up by five notches since the last update. When it comes to the development of the market for power purchase agreements or PPAs, the country took 27th place, three steps lower than in the previous list. Romania (28) and Bulgaria (30) are the only other Balkan countries in the 30-member subindex.

Following long exponential growth, the volume of power generation committed through corporate PPAs this year is set to be less than 2021, although expected to be above the 2020 level, EY pointed out. The market has shifted in favor of sellers, with high demand from corporates seeking to use PPAs as a long-term hedge against fluctuations in the wholesale power markets, the organization noted.

Looking at markets that are punching above their weight, Greece came in second in the world! It was Morocco that took the crown. Bulgaria made it to the top 40 list, coming in at position 35, as a positive surprise for the region. In the segment, the factors affecting the market are normalized with the gross domestic product, GDP, to exclude the advantages of bigger economies.

Greece’s new legislation is expected to reduce the average time for licensing green projects from five years to 14 months, according to the analysis. In addition, the government kickstarted its offshore wind program in July with a new law.

Turkey tumbled to number 30 in the headline RECAI index, compared to position 25 in the previous lineup. The renewable market there is struggling from the devaluation of the lira, EY stressed.

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