A long-running dispute between the municipalities of the island Hydra and Lavrio, southeast of Athens, for the administrative jurisdiction of Agios Georgios, or San Giorgio, an uninhabited 4.3 km2 islet south of Sounio equipped with 23 wind energy turbines totaling 70 MW and installed and operated by Terna Energy, appears set to end in favor of Hydra.

Greek Interior Minister Panos Skourletis appears to have accepted a State Legal Council opinion recommending administrative jurisdiction of the islet for the municipality of Hydra, according to sources.

The Interior Ministry’s final decision on the islet’s administrative jurisdiction will determine which of the two municipalities will be entitled to receive RES-related payments worth half a million euros annually.

Historically, the islet was under Hydra’s control from 1834, when the newly founded modern Greek state’s admnistrative map was established. Control of Agios Georgios was transferred to the Lavrio municipality in 2011 by ELSTAT, the Hellenic Statistical Authority, following a census.