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Renewable energy in Greece

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Renewable energy in Greece accounted for 29 percent of its electricity from renewable sources in 2021. By 2030, renewables are expected to have a capacity of 28GW, and exceed 61 percent of Greece's electricity consumption.[1] This is a significant increase from 8% of the country's total energy consumption in 2008.[2] By 2022, Greece occasionally reached 100% renewables for a few hours.[3] The target for 2050 is a capacity of 65GW.[4]

Regulatory conditions

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View of a wind farm, Panachaiko mountain

The increase in renewables is in part because of a changing regulatory environment. In August 2016, a new renewable energy law was approved that aims to further stimulate renewable energy investments by introducing feed-in premiums, competitive tenders, and virtual net metering.[5] Under the new law, the compensation for renewable energy producers will consist of what they receive in the electricity market plus a variable feed-in premium. The latter is the difference between a price depending on market variables (e.g., the system’s marginal price) and a set price decided via a competitive tender.[5] Furthermore, from the beginning of 2017, the new scheme to approve new renewable energy capacity is based on competitive tenders, where the Energy Minister is able to call on a tender for specific capacities and technologies.[5]

Wind power

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Greece's wind energy capacity in Megawatt per year. x-axis is the year and y-axis are the MW. We see an increase in Wind energy capacity (in Megawatt) from 1998 to 2019. Especially after 2010.
Greece's wind energy capacity in MW per year. x-axis is the year and y-axis is the capacity in Megawatt.

Wind power was due to expand[when?] by 352% by 2010 to meet the European target of 20% coverage of energy needs from renewable sources. Previously,[when?] there were 1,028 wind turbines installed throughout Greece and the number was set to reach 2,587 wind turbines before the end of 2010.[6]

According to the Ministry of Environment and Public Works, the system would have a nameplate capacity of 3,372 MW of power from wind alone[when?] compared to 746 MW at the end of 2006.[7] Greece chose to invest primarily to wind power by 77%, while the rest of renewable sources altogether comprise the remaining 23% of production with hydroelectric power being second with 11%.[8][9]

The Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving (CRES) is the Greek national entity for the promotion of renewable energy sources, rational use of energy and energy conservation.[10]

Timeline

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Source: Hellenic Wind Energy Association,[11] Statista[12]

Solar power

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Photovoltaic solar tracker in Lixouri
Solar insolation in Greece

The solar energy development in Greece started in 2006 and increased substantially from 2009 because of the high feed-in tariffs introduced and the corresponding regulations for domestic applications of PVs on rooftops.[citation needed] However this mechanism overheated the market creating a big deficit of more than 500 million euros in the Greek "Operator of Electricity Market".[citation needed]

From August 2012 new regulations have been introduced including a temporary tax imposed to all operating PV plants (excluding residential applications), licensing of new PV projects have been put on halt and the feed-in tariffs were drastically reduced.[13]

As of December 2013, the total installed photovoltaic capacity in Greece reached 2,419.2 MWp [14] of which 987.2 MWp were installed in the period between January–September 2013 despite the financial crisis.[15] Greece ranks 5th worldwide with regard to per capita installed PV capacity. It is expected that PV produced energy will cover up to 7% of the country's electricity demand in 2014.[16]

PV in Greece
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Total capacity (MWpeak)[17][18][19][20] 5 7 9 19 55 205 631 1,543 2,585 2,603 2,613 2,604 2,606 2,645 2,794 3,288 3,964 5,430 6,453
Watt/capita[19] 55.8 136.7 233.7 236.8 241.7 241.7 242.3 246.5 260.6 307.9 380.0 519.8 617.8

Geothermal energy

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Due to Greece's geographical positioning in the world, they are advantageous when its comes to harnessing geothermal energy at high or low temperatures.[21] High temperature geothermal energy is classified by being above 90 degrees Celsius, and low temperature geothermal energy is when temperatures are between 25 and 90 degrees Celsius.[22] High temperature geothermal energy can be located 1-2 kilometers beneath Santorini, Nisyros, and the Aegean Islands of Milos, while low temperature geothermal energy can be located in regions such as Loutra-Samothrakis, Serres, Chalkidiki, Alexandroupolis, Lesvos, Chios, and Thermopyles.[21] Geothermal energy in Greece accounts for only 0.5% of the country's renewable energy, and is expected to increase over coming years.[23]

Biomass and biofuels

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The amount of biomass that Greece annually produces is estimated to be 2,132,286 tonnes, and this amount comes close to other Mediterranean countries biomass such as Italy and Portugal.[24] Biodiesel is created through such raw materials and around 60% of biodiesel made from Greece originates from oilseeds, 27% comes from used animals fats, frying oils, and vegetable oils, while the last 13% is cotton seeds.[25] Greece's consumption of biofuels is less than 2%, but that percentage is said to increase as years go by because of the large markets and growth potential of biomass and biofuels.[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Greece, a green energy laggard in Europe, boosts renewable energy". Aljazeera.com. 2021-12-07.
  2. ^ "Share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption %". Eurostat. 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  3. ^ "Good news for Greece as renewables fully power country for first time". euronews. 11 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Solar PV Exceeds 5.7 GW Cumulative Capacity In Greece, Including 489 MW Added In H1/2023". 16 August 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Ilias Tsagas (2016-08-17). "Greece Approves New Renewable Energy Law". Renewable Energy World. Archived from the original on 2017-06-06. Retrieved 2017-06-03.
  6. ^ "Greece commits for 2,587 wind turbines". Archived from the original on 2012-03-05. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  7. ^ Rising to the Challenge:the growth of wind power generation in Greece
  8. ^ Greek Ministry of Environment Archived 2014-11-28 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Greece Renewable Energy - Europa Fact Sheet Archived 2012-10-23 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "Center For Renewable Energy Sources (CRES)". www.cres.gr. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  11. ^ Todorović, Igor (24 January 2024). "Greece breaks records in renewables, energy efficiency in 2023". Balkan Green Energy News. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Greece: wind power capacity 2023". Statista. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  13. ^ HELAPCO: The Greek PV Market
  14. ^ "LAGIE: DAS Monthly Reports" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-01-24. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  15. ^ HELAPCO: Total installed capacity January-September 2013
  16. ^ HELAPCO: The Greek PV market
  17. ^ Photovoltaic energy barometer 2007 – EurObserv’ER[permanent dead link] Systèmes solaires Le journal des énergies renouvelables n° 178, p. 49-70, 4/2007
  18. ^ Photovoltaic energy barometer 2009 – EurObserv’ER[permanent dead link] Systèmes solaires Le journal des énergies renouvelables n° 190, p. 72-102, 3/2009
  19. ^ a b Photovoltaic energy barometer 2010-2016 – EurObserv’ER
  20. ^ "All Photovoltaic barometers Archives". EurObserv'ER. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  21. ^ a b "Greece - Renewable Energy | Privacy Shield". www.privacyshield.gov. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  22. ^ Hanson, Patrick (2019-04-26). "Geothermal Country Overview: Potential in Greece". GeoEnergy Marketing. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  23. ^ Papachristou, Maria; Arvanitis, Apostolos; Mendrinos, Dimitrios; Dalampakis, Paschalis; Karytsas, Constantine; Andritsos, N. (2019-06-01). "Geothermal Energy Use, Country Update for Greece (2016-2019)". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  24. ^ Alatzas, Spyridon; Moustakas, Konstantinos; Malamis, Dimitrios; Vakalis, Stergios (2018). "Biomass Potential from Agricultural Waste for Energetic Utilization in Greece". Energies. 12 (6): 1095. doi:10.3390/en12061095. ISSN 1996-1073.
  25. ^ Power, Rhett. "Big Opportunity For Greece At World Economic Forum". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  26. ^ Papadopoulou, E.; Vaitsas, Konstantinos; Fallas, Ioannis; Tsipas, Giorgos; Chrissafis, K.; Bikiaris, D.; Kottaridi, Constantina; Vorgias, Konstantinos E. (2018). "Bio-economy in Greece: Current trends and the road ahead". The Eurobiotech Journal. 2 (3): 137–145. doi:10.2478/ebtj-2018-0018. S2CID 62882595.

Further reading

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