CIP

2-GW grid capacity reservation for offshore wind farms to be ratified

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A legislative revision reserving 2 GW in power grid capacity for the country’s prospective offshore wind farms is expected to be ratified in Greek Parliament within the next few days.

This 2-GW grid capacity reservation for electricity to be produced by offshore wind farms has been included in the revised National Energy and Climate Plan, recently forwarded to the European Commission for approval.

Deputy energy minister Alexandra Sdoukou referred to the aforementioned developments during a speech yesterday at an opening ceremony staged by Copenhagen Offshore Partners for a new office in Athens to host its Greek subsidiary.

COP, regarded as one of the world’s leading companies in the category of floating offshore wind turbines, is partnering with fund management company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), with which Mytilineos has formed an alliance, mainly for the development of offshore wind energy projects in Greek waters.

At the event, Sdoukou highlighted the importance of the National Offshore Wind Farm Development Program, which was recently completed and presented by EDEYEP, the Hellenic Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources Management Company.

“We are now in a position to know the country’s potential and the first areas where wind farms will be installed,” Sdoukou noted.

Greece’s revised NECP foresees the development of offshore wind farms – both floating and fixed-foundation installations – with a total capacity of 2 GW by 2030 and 17 GW by 2050.

Inaugural offshore wind farm auctions in ’27, 6 areas likeliest

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Greece’s first auctions for offshore wind farm areas are expected to take place in 2027 with six areas off Crete, Gyaros, Rhodes and Evia considered the likeliest to be offered to investors as part of the country’s efforts for an offshore energy portfolio of 1.9 GW by the end of the decade, energy ministry officials have informed.

EDEYEP, the Hellenic Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources Management Company, overseeing the effort, also set, late last year, 2027 as the inaugural year of these auctions.

The Greek government recently reduced the National Energy and Climate Plan’s 2030 capacity target for offshore wind farms to 1.9 GW from 2.7 GW.

EDEYEP has scoured Greek waters for locations suitable for development of offshore wind farms. Areas making the grade have been included in a National Offshore Wind Farm Development Program, presented just days ago by the company, along with a Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment.

Flora Karathanasi, an EDEYEP consultant, named six of ten prospective offshore areas for initial development that would contribute to the 2030 target. The six areas are located northeast of Rhodes; around Gyaros, in the northern Cyclades; off Agii Apostoli in eastern Evia; off northeastern Crete, between Agios Nikolaos and Sitia; and off eastern Crete.

According to the National Offshore Wind Farm Development Program, five of these areas are planned to host floating wind turbines, while only one, off northeastern Crete, will host fixed-foundation wind turbines.

The program’s presentation coincides with a heightened level of international RES investment interest in Greek offshore areas.

Swedish-headquartered Hexicon’s Head of Business Development, Henrik Baltscheffsky, recently told energypress that Greece can become a European focal point for floating wind energy, a view he reiterated days later at the 5th Renewable & Storage Forum in Athens.

Also, the Greek subsidiary of Denmark’s Copenhagen Offshore Partners is scheduled to launch its Athens office this Thursday. COP is partnering with the fund management company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), with which Greece-based industrial and energy group Mytilineos shares an alliance.

In addition, Corio Generation, a subsidiary of Australian global financial services group Macquarie, has also expressed an interest to enter Greece’s nascent offshore wind sector. It has announced the formation of a joint venture with Greek company Globalsat.

These moves come following a series of like-minded announcements by domestic companies with major international players (Terna Energy – Ocean Winds; Helleniq Energy – RWE; Intrakat – Parkwind; Motor Oil – Masdar).

Foreign funds to invest €2bn in RES sector over next 5 years

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An accumulating number of major foreign funds with portfolios worth billions are preparing to enter Greece’s renewable energy market with investments expected to reach more than two billion euros over the next five years, deputy energy minister Gerassimos Thomas has told local media.

US funds Blackstone and Quantum, the UK’s Cubico, Denmark’s CIP and the UAE’s Masdar each plan to invest between 250 and 500 million euros in Greece’s RES market over the next five years, according to the deputy minister.

If these investment plans are actualized along with others, including a major-scale solar park project planned by power utility PPC for northern Greece’s west Macedonia region, then the government’s green energy investment target of between 8 and 9 billion euros by 2030 could be achieved well ahead of schedule.

The latest developments highlight how much of an attraction Greece’s renewable energy sector has become for both domestic and foreign investors. The completion of work being conducted by local authorities to simplify the country’s RES licensing procedures should provide further impetus.