A large amount of support is offered by the distribution of the so-called "consumer benefit fee" to household electricity consumers residing in areas (Local and Municipal Communities) in Greece where wind farms are operating.

Too many of the assisted populations live in small mountainous or island communities. The preservation of these people in their places of origin and permanent residence is a strategy of national importance. Wind energy contributes to this strategy, not only through the special fee it pays to communities, but also through the infrastructure projects and other development benefits it offers.

The amounts of the special fee distributed are the amounts that, by law, are automatically withheld from payments to wind farms to reduce the electricity bill of residential consumers and represent between 1% and 1.2% of the projects' turnover. Similar deductions are made from small hydroelectric plants (SHPs), bioenergy plants and some photovoltaic plants.

Specifically, a recent decision of the Ministry of Environment and Energy[2] published the amounts per community that consumers will receive for the production of RES for the years 2021 and 2022. In the same communities, municipalities are required to allocate for local projects the maximum part of the amounts allocated to them, equal to 1.7% - 1.8% of the turnover of the projects[3].

The total amount for the years 2021 and 2022 amounts to €62 million. Of this:

• 23.1 million euros are used to reduce the bills of household consumers.
• 39 million euros are used for local projects to be carried out by municipalities.
• 87.5% of these amounts, or over €54 million, comes from wind farms.

The distribution of €23.1 million to consumers will start with the finalisation of the list published by the Ministry of the Environment. Of this, over €20 million comes from wind farms.

It is interesting to note the conclusions drawn from the analysis of the analytical data:

The amounts from wind farms to household electricity consumers per municipality

Among the local authorities in the country, the largest overall amounts for their residents are for consumers in the following municipalities:

• Karystos Evia (EUR 3,2 million)
• Thevaion of Boeotia (EUR 1,9 million)
• Arrianon Rhodope (EUR 1 million)
• Tanagra of Boeotia (EUR 874 thousand)
• Alexandroupolis Evros (EUR 760 thousand)
• Sitia, Crete (EUR 669 thousand)
• Hydra (EUR 631 000)
• Tripoli, Arcadia (EUR 630 thousand)
• Delphi in Fokida (EUR 594 thousand)

Residents of small communities in the Greek province are particularly favoured. The communities whose residential consumers will receive the largest amounts thanks to the wind farms they host are:

• The municipality of Hydra (EUR 631 thousand)
• The municipality of Aisymi Evros (EUR 558 thousand)
• The municipality of Stoupaia, Evia (EUR 556 000)
• The municipality of Thisvi, Boeotia (EUR 486 000)
• The municipality of Nea Styra, Evia (EUR 453 thousand)
• The municipality of Komitou, Evia (EUR 425 000)
• The municipality of Desfinas in Fokida (EUR 387 thousand)
• The municipality of Kehros Rodopi (EUR 379 000)
• The municipality of Organi Rodopi (EUR 368 thousand)
• The municipality of Paleokastro Sitia (EUR 338 thousand)
• The municipality of Eratyras, Kozani (EUR 323 thousand)

The regions of the country

At regional level, the most favoured region of the mainland is Central Greece, with €9.3 million for consumers in its municipalities. Among the island regions, the most favoured is Crete with €1.3 million, thanks mainly to the wind farms in eastern Crete.

All of the above amounts will be paid to eligible consumers for only two years (2021 and 2022). Of course, payments will continue in the form of reductions in consumption bills for the entire duration of the wind farms' operation.

ELETAEN welcomes the fact that the competent authorities and the State in general continue to implement in practice an important measure to support local communities. It should be noted that the previous decision on the 2020 amounts was issued in March 2023, just a few months ago. This acceleration of the procedures shows that, thanks to the efforts of the Ministry of Environment and its services, most of the problems that existed have been addressed and thus it is expected that the next payments to the beneficiaries will be regular.

The following maps show all the municipalities in Greece, southern Evia, Rhodope, Evros and Boeotia that receive the special fee thanks to the wind farms they host. The amounts relate to the total specific charge (in favour of consumers and local authorities).