As part of the Greek decarbonization program, the country plans to shutdown of all its lignite-fired thermal power plants by 2023. The European Commission (EC) is considering a compensation request filed by Greek state-controlled Public Power Corporation (PPC) for the shutting down of this plants.
Similar request has been rejected a year ago, but now the EC could be more lenient due to the fact that decarbonization plan is progressing in accordance to agreed schedule.
The EC already awarded compensation to some EU member states for prematurely closure of coal-fired power plants. Last May, the Netherlands was awarded 52.5 million euros for its Hemweg coal-fired complex. At the time, the European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager had declared EU member states may need to compensate companies for their efforts to end their coal reliance, adding that the Dutch compensation amount does not threaten to cause market distortions at a European level.
PPC expects that the European Commission will decide on the issue during the final quarter of this year.
