At a time when Europe is attempting to reshape its energy strategy to deal with the consequences of the war in Ukraine, the development of wind energy in our country is of particular interest. According to the latest data, 2,779 wind turbines are currently operating in Greece, with most of them located in Evia, Boeotia, Peloponnese, Thrace, Fthiotida and Crete.
As it follows from the data of the Hellenic Scientific Wind Energy Association (ELETAEN), the total wind power capacity in Greece until the end of June was 4,534 mW. Based on the statistical survey, during the first half of this year, 28 new wind turbines with a total power output of 83.1 mW were connected to the grid.
This figure is not significantly different from the power installed in the second half of 2021 and is three times shorter with effect from the first half of the previous year. According to ELETAEN, the slowdown in growth in the last two semesters is due to increased bureaucracy and administrative obstacles that delay investment, as well as increased project construction times.
Specifically, for the period 2018-2021, the following have been selected through RAE's tenders wind farms with a total capacity of 1.426 mW. However, mainly because of the delays caused by bureaucratic obstacles, only 312 mW, i.e. 22%, had managed to operate at the end of June. The average price of the wind turbines selected in tenders that have not yet been implemented is less than 58 euros/MWh and their total capacity is 1,115 mW.
If all the wind farms selected by RAE tenders over the last four years had been completed, the wind capacity would now be 25% higher, which would reduce our economy's dependence on fuel imports and provide more cheap energy. It is noted, however, that over 650 mW of new wind farms are under construction, the majority of which are expected to be connected to the grid by June 2023.
Geographical distribution
At regional level, Central Greece remains at the top of the list of wind installations, hosting 1,861 mW (41%), with the Peloponnese in second place with 639 mW (14%) and Eastern Macedonia - Thrace in third place with 534 mW (12%). This is followed by western Greece with 370 mW, Crete with 203 mW, central Macedonia with 158 mW, Troizinia and the islands of the Argosaronic with 148 mW, the Ionian Islands with 120 mW, Epirus with 109 mW, the southern Aegean with 97 mW, the northern Aegean with 40 mW, Attica with 35 mW and Thessaly with 19 mW.
At prefecture level, in first place are Evia, where almost 1/3 of the country's wind turbines have been installed. Most of them operate in the municipalities of Karystos and Kymi - Aliveri. There is also a dense network of wind farms in the prefectures of Boeotia, Fokida, Fthiotida, Rhodope, Evros, Kefallinia, Argolida, Arcadia, Lakonia, Heraklion and Lasithi.
The next steps
To further develop wind energy, ELETAEN and the Hellenic Association of Renewable Energy Producers (ESHAPE) consider a REPowerGR action plan is needed, comprising at least five policy pillars.
In this context, the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) should be updated immediately, incorporating all the latest developments at European level to increase the RES targets for both 2025 and 2030. But it must also have an effective governance mechanism to ensure that all other plans - spatial plans, specific environmental studies, etc. serve energy and climate objectives and do not undermine them.
According to the two operators, in order to optimally achieve the objectives of the NAPC, operators should grant new final connection offers taking into account the renewable energy technology of each plant, with the aim that the final connection offers granted and those in force per technology are consistent with the mix of technologies foreseen for 2030 in the new NAPC.
At the same time, it is necessary to radical simplification of the procedure for amending existing environmental permits, which has been extremely strained over the last two years, the immediate launch of the next tender for new renewable energy projects and the promotion of investment in electricity storage.
The investment groups and the manufacturers
In the field of wind energy More from 30 business groups, which operate wind farms in various parts of the country. The group with the most installed megawatts is TERNA Energy with 703 mW, followed by ELLAKTOR with 482 mW, ENEL Green Power with 481 mW, Iberdrola Rokas with 304 mW and Total Eren with 250 mW.
EDF, with 238.2 mW, Motor Oil Renewable Energy (MORE) with 232.3 mW, Mytilineou Group with 193.2 mW, PPC Renewables with 171.3 mW and Jasper Energy with 113 mW also have significant installed capacity.
In the first half of the year, wind farms were completed and connected to the grid by Iberdrola Rokas (33.6 mW), Elica of the Copelouzos group (20.7 mW), Cubico (12 mW) and other companies with smaller investments.
Regarding the wind turbine manufacturers, Vestas has supplied 44.8% of the total attributable wind power in Greece. They are followed by Enercon with 25.4%, Siemens Gamesa with 18.2%, Nordex with 6.9% and GE Renewable Energy with 3.4%. Specifically for the first half of 2022, new wind turbines were supplied by Vestas by 54.2% (45 mW), Enercon by 42.2% (35.1 mW) and Goldwind by 3.6% (3 mW).
