Greek households will be able to offset electricity cost by installing photovoltaic systems and providing electricity both to themselves and to the power grid, according to a decision signed on Tuesday by the Deputy Environment Minister Makis Papageorgiou.
The offsetting system, known as "net metering", allows households and companies that produce their own electricity through photovoltaics to share it with the local utility company that then credits them for it against the cost of electricity it provides to them.
The new smart meters will measure both the energy consumed by the producer (e.g. a household) and that provided to the utility grid. In a household's case, the bill issued every four months will factor in incoming and outgoing energy; if the incoming energy is greater, the household pays the difference, if it is the lesser of the two, the household will be credited for the next four-month cycle. A final statement will be issued at the end of the year, after which any surplus will not be carried over.
Photovoltaics installed on roofs or elsewhere can be used under the scheme (although not other systems such as small scale wind generators) up to a maximum capacity of 20KW. If it is greater than 20KW it can be up to 50% of the agreed capacity of supply.
"The introduction of net metering allows many consumers - small and larger, householders and SMEs - to significantly reduce their energy costs," Papageorgiou said, "while it pushes local economies to move to this immediate solution of establishing small photovoltaic systems with great benefits, without affecting cost for the rest of the consumers."
The Environment Minister Yiannis Maniatis also said that the measure would be particularly positive for agricultural areas, allowing producers to produce cheaper products by reducing their energy costs. Similarly hotels would be able to reduce their energy bills and thus obtain a competitive advantage in the critical tourism sector.
Sources: Athens News Agency, Econews.gr
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