Electricity Imports and Solar Power Curtailed Until Easter Monday

Greek authorities have decided to halt all inflows through international electricity interconnections with Bulgaria, Albania, North Macedonia, and Turkey from today (April 18, 2025) until Easter Monday. The aim is to prevent any additional megawatts from being added to the Greek power grid during critical morning and midday hours when intense overproduction is expected. This isn’t the first time such an extreme measure has been implemented—it was also enforced last Easter. However, this year’s solar energy production is even higher due to approximately 2.5 GW of new photovoltaic installations in the country, intensifying the problem and making it harder to manage. Besides cutting off connections, ADMIE and DEDDIE have imposed production limits on thousands of photovoltaic systems connected to the distribution network with capacities exceeding 400 kW. These belong to the so-called Group B projects where operators cannot shut them down automatically; instead, owners must do it themselves. Many producers have preemptively closed their photovoltaics starting from Maundy Thursday and are taking breaks to avoid having to be present over the next few days. They prefer a small financial loss rather than dealing with the situation. Recent forecasts by ADMIE predict demand drops of up to 1,000 MW during midday hours on Sunday and Easter Monday compared to recent days. Fortunately, mild winds are expected during this controversial three-day period, meaning wind farms won’t produce excessive amounts that could complicate matters further. Both ADMIE and YPEN express optimism about smooth electricity supply nationwide, with Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastamou stating after meetings with managers that two successful tests were conducted recently. Nonetheless, the coming days will likely be one of the toughest challenges for the Greek electricity system in years.