Greece's independent transmission operator IPTO stated that the country provided 100% of all energy needs within 5 hours thanks to renewable energy sources.
The Greek environmental center Green Tank called it a record of optimism for the transition to clean energy, moving away from fossil fuels and achieving energy sufficiency, reports Euronews.
IPTO noted that green generation reached a record level of production in 3106 MWh, which similar to the operation of 3 blocks of nuclear power plants of 1000 MW each. This happened on Friday, October 7th.
Green Tank emphasized that from the beginning of 2022 to August, solar, wind and hydropower accounted for 46% of the total electricity in the country, and in 2021 this figure reached 42% in 8 months.
“European countries such as Greece are rapidly moving away from fossil fuels towards cheap electricity from renewable sources. Greece’s milestone proves that a renewable-dominated electricity grid is already in sight,” said Elisabeth Cremona, analyst at the Energy Analytical Ember Center.
She also added that this demonstrates that the electricity system can be powered by RES without sacrificing reliability. But efforts must be made to ensure that renewables outpace fossil fuels in the Greek energy sector throughout the year.
The material said that the transition of Greece to clean energy was not entirely simple. Like other European countries, Greece reduced its dependence on Russian gas after a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, increasing imports of liquefied natural gas to meet its needs and increased coal production, postponing the decarbonization plan.
Greece's goal is to more than double its green energy capacity to account for at least 70% of its energy mix by 2030. To achieve these goals, the government aims to attract around €30 billion from European funds and private investment to modernize its electricity grids.
Although Greece plans to have 25 GW of green capacity (it currently has 10 GW), analysts point to the possibility of reaching these goals faster.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, tha the International Energy Agency claims that global investments in the power grid should reach $820 billion a year until 2030 to get on track to limit global warming to 1.5° Celsius.
As EcoPolitic reported earlier, the capital of Denmark Copenhagen will not be able to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025, after all, the Amager Resource Center incinerator has turned down an application for government assistance to build a plant to capture its CO2 emissions.
