ATHENS – On Monday, Greece’s biggest oil refiner Hellenic Petroleum said that it shall begin the financing and operations of a northern Greece based 204-megawatt solar energy plant in order to venture out into Greece’s shift to renewables from coal.
Last year, Greece announced its plan to shut down operations on coal-fired power plants by 2023 by shifting to more renewables. Northern Greece is a current hotspot for coal-fired plants and the government’s ambitious intentions have translated into action plans for renewable energy projects and funding to cover up for the job losses.
Hellenic is 35% state-owned and operated solar and wind energy facilities in the country already. An investment of 130 million euros has been pledged to the Kozani plant to be built by Germany’s Juwi. Operations are to begin in the first quarter of 2021.
By 2030, Greece intends to boost renewables to 35% from this year’s 19.7% of the total energy consumption. An investment worth 44 billion euros is expected to be generated.
Hellenic operated three refineries with a per day capacity of 344,000 barrels in total and 26-megawatts of solar and wind parks around Greece. Another 300-megawatts of renewables are intended to be added to ensure Greece’s transition to clean energy.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.