Greece expects EUR 1.5 billion investments in wind energy

Ten corporations and their associates are set to invest around EUR 1.5 billion over the next three years for the development of wind-energy facilities with a total capacity of 1.400 MW.

The majority of these projects are being planned by the ten biggest renewable energy players in the Greek market or smaller firms planning partnerships with them. Investors include Terna Energy, Eltech Anemos, Protergia, PPC Renewables, Enel, EDF, Iberdrola Rokas, Eren, Elika and RF Energy, according to Greek Energypress portal.

The projects can be divided into three categories. The first concerns projects with a total capacity of 500 MW for which applications have already been submitted to LAGIE, the Electricity Market Operator. A number of investors grouped in this category secured feed-in premiums at a level of EUR 98 per MWh, without having to take part in tenders, required as of January 1 this year.

The second category concerns projects totaling 400 MW in the southern part of Evia, Greece’s second largest island. Those facilities will be connected to an underwater cable linking a substation in Polypotamos, on Evian seaside, with another substation in Nea Makri, on the coast northeast of Athens.

The third category concerns older projects that had already secured steady tariffs. Those investors signed agreements with LAGIE before December 31, 2015, for feed-in tariffs of EUR 105 per MWh, under the condition that the projects are connected to the grid by June, 2018.

Greek corporations aren’t the only ones exploiting the wind power on Evia. Last year, the Spanish Gamesa Corporación Tecnológica was contracted to install a wind farm with 12 turbines of 850 kW on the island. At the start of 2016 the wind power capacity on non-interconnected Greek islands was 322.6 MW.

According to calculations made by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) in 2015, in the next 15 years, Greece, along with Romania, will be a regional wind power leader in the Balkans.