A planned payment of an outstanding power utility PPC amount of 100 million euros to energy producing municipalities in the country’s north for regional development, owed since 2014, represents a first step in the west Macedonia region’s gradual transition towards a post-lignite era.

The prospective payment of this amount to the region’s municipalities will be included in a PPC draft bill being prepared by the energy ministry for presentation in October, energypress sources informed.

Local municipalities are eagerly awaiting payments in order to finance the completion of vital infrastructure projects needed to continue telethermal supply when it will no longer be offered by lignite-fired power stations.

Florina and Amynteo are among the locations whose telethermal projects are to be developed through the payment of PPC’s development funds.

The prospective settlement represents a first step in the post-lignite support plan for Greece’s west Macedonia region, where PPC’s mining and electricity generation activities account for 45 percent of the regional economy.

The local economy of Megalopoli in the Peloponnese is also greatly dependent on lignite.

Municipalities will anticipate further support for economic stability following 2028, when all lignite activity is expected to have stopped in Greece, according to a plan announced last week by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York.

Plenty of ministries will need to coordinate on numerous issues if a smooth and punctual transition to the post-lignite era, scheduled for less than a decade away, is to be achieved. Greece does not have a good track record in achieving targets of this scale.

The move towards decarbonization is a European challenge concerning many EU member states besides Greece, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland and Romania, all greatly exposed to lignite activity. They are hoping for generous support through Europe’s energy transition fund.