With the economy of Greece being in trouble for the better part of the decade, the government needed some good news to boost morale. As per a recent report, the electrical system of the country hit an absolutely impressive milestone. It was completely run on clean renewable energy for the first time in its history. The IPTO, or the Independent Power Transmission Operation, stated that the sources of renewable energy in the country were able to take care of the electricity demands for around five hours on October 7th. While 5 hours might not seem much, one needs to realize that the entire country was running on such energy. Another record was reached that day- a peak of 3,106 megawatt hours of electricity.[1]
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Renewable Energy Paving The Way For A Cleaner Future In Greece
The company involved in making this a possibility also stated that this achievement would be opening up several doors to making the energy mix far greener in the next few years. This company has ownership over the entirety of the electrical transmission system in the country. It also works towards connecting power plants with customers. With the introduction of clean renewable energy, things will definitely take a turn for the better. Interestingly, the Mediterranean nation has been relying on varied sources of energy for quite some time now. Currently, no single source accounts for more than 50%. In August 2022 renewable sources and natural gas, along with solar energy accounted for the largest division of power. The IPTO has also been drawing quite a lot of electricity from water. Apart from this, there is brown coal, which is one of the dirtiest fossil fuels.
Currently, the per capita total consumption of energy in the country put Greece in the 52nd position in the world. It stands at around 108 million Btu for every individual, as reported by the U.S Energy Information Administration. Under this metric, Greece reportedly uses around a third of the energy that the US uses- with around 304.41 million Btu per person. [2]
What is definitely quite impressive is the success of renewable energy in Greece comes 10 years after the country gradually decreased its dependence on fossil fuels. At the same time, such a negligent dependence also led to a massive boost in the capacity of large hydropower plants and renewable energy sources. This was recently reported by The Green Tank, which is a nonprofit environmental think tank based in Greece.
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Sources
- “Major milestone for Greek energy as renewables power 100% of electricity demand.” Euro News. Euronews Green. October 11,
- “Greece says its entire electrical grid ran on 100% renewables for the first time.” NPR. Bill Chappell. October 13, 2022.