A national plan for the development of offshore wind farms is one of the first tasks that will need to be taken on by the next energy ministry, to be appointed following the upcoming second round of voting in Greece’s legislative election.

Prior to the election’s first round on May 21, the ruling center-right New Democracy party had prepared this plan’s fundamentals, marking out five areas to host Greece’s first phase of offshore wind farms, in the north and central Aegean, as well as off Crete.

Also, discussion on the plan with the Hellenic National Defence General Staff had reached an advanced stage.

As a next step, the new administration’s energy ministry must approve the national plan for offshore wind farms, and a related joint ministerial decision will need to be issued by numerous ministries involved, so that authorities can start preparing a Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment.

The area off Alexandroupoli is planned to host pilot projects offering a total capacity of 600 MW. The Copelouzos group has already secured a 216-MW production license for offshore parks in this area. In addition, it appears that three areas have been marked out east of Evia, close to the mainland and in the wider Dodecanese area, while a fifth area is situated off eastern Crete, between Sitia and Xerokampos.

The plan’s first stage involves offshore wind farms promising to offer a total capacity of 2.1 GW.