Greek electricity update 2023
(Article by Mira Todorovic Symeonides, Partner, and Panagiota Maragkozoglou, Associate, published in the Energy & Natural Resources Newsletter of the ILO on January 8, 2024)
Rokas| Energy & Natural Resources – Greece-Greek electricity update 2023
Introduction
Greece’s first National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) was adopted in 2019 by a decision of the Government Council for Economic Politics.(1) The revised NECP, in compliance with the new energy and climate goals of the European Union, was presented to the public in January 2023 and submitted to the European Commission for review. Following the comments received, the updated and revised NECP was prepared and re-submitted to the European Commission at the beginning of November 2023. The new plan intends to more
accurately lay out the “energy roadmap” towards 2030 and 2050.
NECP revisions
The revised plan provides for renewable energy systems (RES) to comprise:
- 44% of the energy mix; and
- 79% of electricity generation (target reduced by 1%)
The target for photovoltaics, which is estimated to be set at 13.4 gigawatts (from 14.1 gigawatts) and offshore wind farms, is also reduced as their capacity is predicted to eventually be 1.9 gigawatts (from 2.7 gigawatts originally). Similarly, reductions in targets are also foreseen for electricity storage as it is estimated that by 2030 a total capacity portfolio of 5.3 gigawatts will be in operation, while the installed capacity of batteries will be set at 3.1 gigawatts (from 5.6 gigawatts in the original plan).
The total installed capacity of gas-fired power plants is expected to increase from 7 to 7.7 gigawatts by the end of the decade, meaning that one more plant will be built by 2030, with the plan noting that all lignite plants must be retired by then.
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