The Greek power company PPC and the German RWE have adopted the final investment decision (FID) for five solar PV projects in Greece, with a total capacity of over 200 MW, RWE announced.
The projects are located in the region of Western Macedonia, in the north of Greece, on the site of the former surface lignite mine Amintea.
Construction work is planned to begin in the spring, and the solar power plants should be fully operational by the end of the first quarter of 2024.
Half of the total investment of 180 million is secured from EU funds, and the rest is financed through commercial loans and equity capital, according to the announcement.
Greek Deputy Minister of Finance Todoros Skilakakis said that over 11 billion euros of investments are planned for the green transition, according to the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience “Greece 2.0”.
Electricity produced in five solar power plants with a total capacity of 210 MWp will be delivered through a power purchase agreement (PPA).
Meton Energy, the joint venture of RWE Renewables (51%) and PPC (49%) for the Greek solar project, has signed a PPA with a third party for a period of 10 to 15 years, it said in a statement, without detailing the price.
According to the PPA Pexapark platform, the 10-year PPA index for European solar energy currently stands at €65.49 per MWh.
Greece belongs to the group of countries that have the best conditions in Europe for the production of solar energy, with 2,800 hours of sunshine per year.
The Greek solar boom
PPC CEO Georgios Stasis said that the company will continue to invest in renewable energy projects independently, but also in cooperation with strong partners, such as RWE.
RWE plans to develop more solar projects in Greece, setting a target of 2 GW for the joint venture.
Greece had about 5.6 GW of installed solar capacity at the end of 2022 with 1.4 GW added last year, according to SolarPower Europe.
The country is projected to add 10.4 GW over the next four years, according to SPE’s latest December 2022 forecast.
