Greece hit record high green energy output last year

Holding Admie Ipto SA

30/01/2024 12:29

ATHENS, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Greece hit a record high in
wind, solar and hydroelectric energy output last year, its power
grid operator IPTO said on Tuesday, as the Mediterranean country
on the southern tip of Europe seeks to become an exporter of
green energy to northern countries.
    Power produced by renewables and hydroelectric plants
accounted for 57% of Greece's energy mix last year, an 8.5%
annual rise from 2022, IPTO said in a statement.
    The rest came from gas, oil and coal.
    After shutting most of the coal-fired power plants it had
relied on for decades as part of a plan to phase out coal by
2026, Greece has more than doubled its output from renewables
since 2014.
    It needs to invest about 30 billion euros to boost green
capacity, expand grids and install energy storage units to
achieve its target for 44% of energy consumption to come from
green energy by 2030 from 22% in 2021, according to a draft plan
for climate and energy.
        As part of a 10-year project worth 5 billion euros, IPTO
plans to expand the grid's capacity to 29 gigawatt by 2030 from
18 gigawatt today, its Chief Executive Officer Manos Manousakis
said in a statement.
  
        Along with expanding interconnections with neighbouring
countries, such as Bulgaria, Greece has been promoting the
construction of an undersea power link to Egypt and another one
to reach Germany via the Adriatic Sea, Slovenia and Austria.
  

 (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou, editing by Ed Osmond)
 ((angeliki.koutantou@thomsonreuters.com; +30 2102214608;
Reuters Messaging: angeliki.koutantou.reuters.com@reuters.net))