Minister of Environment and Energy Stavros Papastavrou spoke on Friday at the Economist conference “South-east Europe as a Bridge of Co-operation and Growth” in Thessaloniki, highlighting the transformation of the Greek energy system-both in terms of “greening” production and positioning the country as a regional energy hub.
He noted that in 2005, 60% of electricity was generated from lignite, whereas today renewable energy sources account for nearly 60%, with lignite reduced to 9%. He emphasised that this transformation occurred during a particularly difficult period for the country due to the economic crisis.
Referring to Greece’s role as a regional energy hub, he highlighted investments in cross-border interconnections. He stated that Greece, in cooperation with Cyprus, is shaping the strategy for the electricity interconnection between the two countries, as well as progress on the connection with Egypt. He particularly emphasised the importance of the vertical gas corridor-from Greece to Central Europe and Ukraine-for regional prosperity and broader energy transformation, underlining the need for regulatory harmonisation along the pipeline to facilitate gas transit. According to him, Greece can export up to 8 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, whereas in 2019-2020 exports were zero.
He also mentioned the decline in electricity prices this summer compared to last year’s unacceptable situation, when prices in Southern Europe were 2-3 times higher than in the North. This improvement is attributed to the activation of the working group proposed by the Greek government to the European Commission last March.
ANA-MPA is a COMMUNICATION SUPPORTER of “The Fifth Thessaloniki Metropolitan Summit – Southeast Europe as a bridge of co-operation and growth”
Photos from the conference:
On camera statements:
https://www.amna.gr/video-services/544358/Corporate%20Videos (YouTube)
https://www.youtube.com/user/AMNAwebTV (YouTube)
https://we.tl/SG16Qml4bD (physical files)
