Photo: Tamim Ahmed from Pixabay
The Greek authorities plan to install a cooperative solar power plant for the supply of 147,000 farmers and 17,000 vulnerable households.
The 105 MW facility in the western part of mainland Greece will be the largest photovoltaic plant owned by a public energy cooperative. It is located in Aetolia-Acarnania, a part of the region of Western Greece.
The region and the Ministry of Rural Development provided the land at the Polder Estate in Missolonghi (Mesolongi). They also secured EUR 25 million from the Regional Operational Program of Western Greece.
This is a project of particular importance for the energy transition, sustainable development, and strengthening the role of Aetolia-Acarnania and Western Greece in the country’s new energy map, according to the Ministry of Environment and Energy.
Papastavrou: The government is putting energy democracy into practice
Upon completion, the facility will reduce energy costs for beneficiaries by 62%, providing energy security to 147,000 farmers and citizens. At the same time, the project carries significant social importance. It will meet the needs of 17,000 vulnerable households, the ministry added.
During a visit to the region, Minister of Environment and Energy Stavros Papastavrou pointed out that the government is putting energy democracy into practice.
“We are implementing the country’s largest public cooperative PV park in Western Greece. 147,000 farmers will benefit, and 17,000 vulnerable households will receive free electricity,” Papastavrou explained.
According to Nektarios Farmakis, the Governor of Western Greece, the PV park represents the largest cooperative energy democracy project in the country and one of the largest in Europe.
“Our responsibility now is to move forward at full speed,” he stressed.
Two types of energy communities in the EU
Under the current regulatory framework in the EU, including Greece, there are two types of energy communities – renewable energy community (REC) and citizen energy community (CEC). This project in Western Greece is an REC.
According to The Green Tank’s report from December 2025, there were 1,747 operating energy communities of all legal forms in Greece. The capacity of their power plants was 1,465 MW, with the vast majority being commercial facilities.
Greece’s first municipal energy community is going to be launched in its coal capital Kozani, the municipality said in December 2025.
Power plants operated by energy communities surpassed the 1 GW mark in 2023. Greece held the first place in the number of CECs in 2022.
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