GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Evangelos (Evans) Courakis, Evangelos Mylonas Tsoumas, Sofia Andreanoudi, Vassiliki Xynou and Ioanna Marouso Argyriou, Koutalidis Law Firm
1.4 Sale of Power Industry Assets The sale and purchase of assets in the electricity industry are not subject to specific restrictions, but there are a few key considerations to make when acquiring or selling a power industry asset in Greece. In particular, compliance with Law 4601/2019 shall be reassured. This Law governs corporate transformations in Greece. The Law does not impose specific restrictions on transactions in the power industry but focuses on modernising and simplifying the legal framework for merg- ers, demergers, conversions and other corpo- rate restructuring processes. In addition, Law 5162/2024, which governs the tax treatment of corporate transformations, applies to energy asset acquisitions, especially in cases involving foreign subsidiaries or cross-border restructur- ing. Additionally, it necessitates compliance with other existing tax regulations. The acquisition of energy-related projects requires compliance with certain permit-related obligations. More specifically, a potential acqui- sition would need to be notified to the authorities that issued the project’s licences. Sometimes, such notification might require an update or amendment to the respective licence, which is, however, a simple process in most cases. An exception applies for special projects where RAWEW performs an audit on the owner’s finan- cial status. Lastly, in some cases, the Law does not allow for energy projects to be transferred, for exam- ple if such projects have received state aid. Depending on the case, such restriction might no longer be applicable when such assets reach a certain maturity stage (eg, RES projects that have received operational state aid through an auction, which may be transferred after their
electrification). In some cases, project transfers may not be permitted due to anti-concentration restrictions. 1.5 Central Planning Authorities The Ministry of Environment and Energy is essentially formulating the scenery in the energy sector in Greece by exercising its legislative ini- tiative and its powers to issue secondary acts. Additionally, a large part of Greece’s energy sec- tor framework, mainly with respect to network operation, fair competition, market participation and state aid, was shaped by the EU legislator. Nevertheless, RAWEW is the central authority that oversees and administers the electricity supply and the transmission and development of distribution facilities to ensure system reliabil- ity and adequacy of supply. Established as an independent administrative authority, RAWEW is responsible for a wide range of functions and powers. These include ensuring the adequacy of electricity supply by monitoring supply and demand, consumer protection, project licens- ing and overseeing the planning and develop- ment of generation and storage facilities as well as achieving compatibility with national and EU energy goals. RAWEW also has audit and sanctioning powers and plays a significant role in assembling and reforming the regulatory framework in Greece’s energy sector. Notably, RAWEW certifies and supervises: • IPTO, the entity responsible for the manage- ment and maintenance of Greece’s high- voltage transmission network, ensuring the stability and reliability of electricity transmis- sion across the country; and • HEDNO, the entity that oversees the distribu- tion network operation and development.
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