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Green light for 2.3 billion euros in Greek island projects, including rooftop solar, grid links and electric mobility
🇬🇷 Greece /Energy & Infrastructure

Green light for 2.3 billion euros in Greek island projects, including rooftop solar, grid links and electric mobility

From Ta Nea · () Greek

Translated from Greek and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement Approved/passed
  • The European Commission and European Investment Bank approved a 2.3 billion-euro investment program for the Greek islands.
  • The plan includes power interconnections, renewable generation and storage, self-consumption solar systems, multipurpose reservoirs, and electric-vehicle charging infrastructure.
  • The largest allocations target interconnections and related infrastructure, at 1.1 billion euros, and renewable energy with storage, at 977 million euros.

A 2.3 billion-euro package of investments for the Greek islands has received approval from the European Commission and the European Investment Bank. The program combines electricity interconnections with renewable energy, storage and electric mobility under Greece’s Islands Decarbonization Fund.

The fund was created exclusively for Greece. Its stated aim is to transform the energy and environmental profile of the islands, reduce reliance on oil-fired power plants and increase the use of renewable energy.

The largest share, 1.1 billion euros, will go to electricity interconnections and related energy infrastructure in the Dodecanese, the Cyclades and the North Aegean islands. A further 977 million euros is earmarked for renewable-energy projects paired with storage systems.

The plan places particular emphasis on self-consumption solar installations. Homes, hotels, restaurants, shops and offices could install them, as could hospitals, schools, public buildings, care facilities and agricultural sites. Another 200 million euros is allocated to multipurpose dams and reservoirs, while 56 million euros will fund electric-vehicle charging infrastructure.

The new interconnections are intended to link island electricity systems with the mainland grid. According to Greece’s Environment and Energy Ministry, that should reduce the operation of oil-fired plants, allow more clean energy to be used and strengthen energy security. Renewable-energy and storage projects are intended to improve the autonomy and flexibility of local electricity systems.

The fund’s available resources are currently estimated at about 2 billion euros, based on prevailing prices for emissions allowances in the European Union’s Emissions Trading System. The final amount is not fixed and will depend on allowance prices during the fund’s operating period. Following approval, the ministry is working with the responsible bodies to define the individual projects and measures. European Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra called the fund an example of how emissions-trading revenues can be used.

Now is the time to implement the Program.

— Wopke HoekstraThe European climate commissioner called the fund an example of using emissions-trading revenues; the available source text ends during the quotation.
About this summary

Originally published by Ta Nea in Greek. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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