As a measure in a fight against the ongoing energy crisis and soaring gas and electricity prices, Greek Government has asked state-controlled Public Power Corporation (PPC) to delay planned coal phase-out by two to three years. This will effectively delay the country’s decarbonization plan by the same amount of time.
Currently, lignite-fired power plants operated by PPC represent about 10 % of the country’s energy mix, with annual generation of some 2.5 TWh of electricity. Although the figure doubled in 2022 (it was 5 % in 2021), the Government aims even higher – to between 17 and 20 % in the first half of 2023, with total electricity generation of 9 TWh.
The increase of coal in Greek energy mix will, consequently, decrease the participation of gas- fired power plants by some 12 TWh, which is in line with the European Commission’s plea for 15 % reduction of gas consumption of its member states.
