Self-consumers with photovoltaic installations above 400 kW connected to Greece’s interconnected system were required to install remote monitoring and remote-control equipment by Sept. 15, after an eight-month compliance period set by distribution operator HEDNO. The requirement also applies to photovoltaic plants installed behind the customer’s meter. Operators must submit compliance documentation covering both station equipment and integration with HEDNO’s SCADA and distribution-management systems.
For now, the measure is described as an operational and system-security requirement. Its longer-term relevance is linked to digital infrastructure being installed within industrial energy systems. The rollout brings industrial rooftop and behind-the-meter solar generation into the distribution operator’s digital control perimeter.
Visibility and controllability for distribution networks
Factories that previously used onsite solar largely as a private asset to reduce electricity purchases can become visible and technically controllable from the distribution-system level. As rooftop and behind-the-meter solar expands, distribution operators need to understand conditions beyond the customer’s meter. A large photovoltaic installation can materially affect local network power flows, particularly when industrial demand declines while solar output remains high.
Remote monitoring provides that visibility, while remote control adds a mechanism for managing production when required. The immediate operational outcome may include additional curtailment capability rather than a new revenue stream for industrial self-consumers. The same communications infrastructure could later support more advanced services.
Potential integration with flexible industrial demand
Once an industrial site’s generation can be measured and controlled remotely, it becomes technically easier to combine solar output with flexible production loads. The source lists electric boilers, refrigeration, EV charging and other equipment as examples that could be managed under a common energy-management system. An aggregator could then potentially optimize the entire factory connection rather than managing only a single generation asset.
A distinction is highlighted between generation output and electricity consumption at the same site. A factory may produce 1 MW from rooftop solar while consuming 3 MW. In that case, the grid-relevant service may not involve shutting down solar; it could instead involve increasing consumption when local solar output is high or reducing electricity use when system conditions tighten.
Connection arrangements and market prerequisites
The emerging architecture is also described as potentially supporting flexible grid connections. Instead of reinforcing a local network whenever a new industrial load or generation project reaches its theoretical maximum, a DSO could eventually offer connection capacity subject to agreed operating limits. Customers accepting remote control or automated demand management could obtain faster or cheaper connections in exchange for flexibility during constrained periods.
The requirement itself is not described as creating an automatic commercial market for industrial self-consumers. There is no automatic payment solely because HEDNO can remotely monitor or control installations. However, without telemetry, communications and controllability, local flexibility markets are described as remaining largely theoretical because the grid operator cannot reliably see, dispatch or verify resources.
Technology needs for industrial participation
With telemetry and controllability in place, additional market products become easier to introduce. For Greek technology and energy-service providers, this could expand the addressable market for related services. Industrial customers are expected to require SCADA interfaces, controllers, communications equipment, energy-management software, and integration between onsite assets and distribution-system requirements.
The source also points to future aggregators building on the same infrastructure. It describes a potential shift in commercial opportunity from selling additional rooftop photovoltaic installations toward controlling the entire industrial energy system. Solar generation, factory demand, EV charging and other flexible loads could be operated as a single portfolio whose behaviour changes according to electricity prices and network requirements.
Role of the 400 kW threshold
The 400-kW remote-control threshold is presented as more than a technical compliance rule. It is described as another step toward an electricity system where large industrial customers are digitally visible and controllable rather than passive endpoints of the distribution network. The source links this to a foundation needed if Greece later chooses to create commercial markets around local flexibility.