24/11/2020 16:23
The cost of electricity is expected to be reduced in 2022, as the market opens to competition and the project to bring natural gas is expected to be completed by the end of this year, Energy Minister Natasa Pilides said on Tuesday.
Addressing the House Committee on Energy, the Minister said that money in the Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Conservation Fund is running short after 2022 with the existing RES fee, that was lowered to €0.5 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in 2020. The fee will be maintained at the same levels until 2021 and the House Committee started discussions to revise it from 2022, in the Minister’s presence.
Pilides told the House Committee that the new RES fee should aim at supporting RES and the consumers, for a transition to a “greener” approach and in order to back state plans in line with EU goals.
The RES fee should be increased in order to provide incentives for utilising RES, the Minister said. The current fee of €0.5 is not enough and does not contribute to plans to provide incentives, as the fund will be short of money from 2022 onwards, she added.
The Minister also said that the policy for a green transition in the coming years should reward consumers who use RES and increase the burden on those who pollute.