(ADPnews) – Sep 17, 2010 – The Greek government has given the green light to EUR 2.1 billion (USD 2.7bn) worth of renewable energy projects, hoping the lucrative sector could provide the remedy for its ailing economy.
The wind and solar energy power plants that got the nod of the Regulatory Authority for Energy will result in 840 MW of new capacity added to the country’s modest fleet. A further 40 GW of projects are expected to jump through the regulatory hoops if the government delivers on its pledge to streamline the cumbersome consenting process.
Decades of reckless spending brought Greece on its knees and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rushed in to whisk it from the brink of bankruptcy with a EUR 110 billion loan.
Prime Minister George Papandreou has identified tourism, education, agriculture and renewable energy as the sectors that could hold the key to clearing up the country’s economic mess.
Greece’s clean energy sector is still in its nascence, with just about 1.3 GW of installed wind capacity and 184 MW of photovoltaics (PV). However, Athens has set ambitious targets, including sourcing 40% of its electricity from renewables by 2020. The country’s National Renewable Energy Action Plan calls for 7.2 GW of onshore wind and 2.2 GW of PV capacity by 2020, as well as 300 MW of offshore wind.
The government has already demonstrated its strong commitment to hit these targets. In early August, it unwrapped intentions to inject EUR 12 billion in environmental and clean power projects over the next five years, a plan it aims will unlock private investments of about EUR 32 billion and create 192,000 green-collar jobs.
Feed-in tariffs (FiT) and new regulations for energy efficiency and combined heat and power (CHP) are just some of the measures drafted by the government to help achieve its low-carbon goals.
Greece is the sunniest and windiest country in Europe but still clean power made just 4% of its total electricity output in 2009. The share should rise to 18% by 2020 in line with the country’s binding EU target.
(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.314)
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