Greece’s first phase in the development of offshore wind farms may include as many as seven or eight areas, instead of five or six, as had been initially planned, according to latest information.

Authorities have decided to defer, until early September, the delivery of a national strategy for offshore wind farms, along with a strategic environmental impact assessment, which, combined with necessary restrictions over national security concerns, is ultimately expected to result in a far greater number of areas for offshore wind farm development.

National security-related restrictions imposed by the Hellenic National Defense General Staff have transformed the country’s approach to offshore wind farm development, the resulting rationale being to mark out and offer RES investors numerous smaller areas rather than fewer bigger areas, as was initially planned.

If Greece’s first phase grows to comprise seven or eight areas, then the overall plan could end up including a multitude of small clusters for offshore wind farm development throughout Greece’s sea regions.

Smaller areas mean projects of smaller dimensions, or units that will be far more compact than offshore wind farm systems installed in the North Sea and Baltic Sea over recent years.

This in turn makes the task more challenging for investors, who will have to pay great attention to cost-benefit studies for the cost-effectiveness of proposed projects.

Besides Greece’s pilot projects in the first phase, authorities aim to announce tenders for wind farm projects offering a total capacity of 2 GW by 2030. An extensive development program will help bolster the interest of investors.