Nikos Mantzaris, Senior Policy Analyst at The Green Tank, commented on the issue of lignite’s use in electricity production with respect to Greece’s energy security in a report by Katerina Christofilidou, on ERT evening news.
In view of the current discussion on the possible extension of lignite plants operation to meet electricity needs, Nikos Mantzaris argued that the return to lignite has no realistic grounds in the long term due to both climate and purely economic reasons.
However, given that we are going through an unpredictable period due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he pointed out that many factors will determine whether lignite extracted now will, in fact, be burned for electricity in the coming months or not. Among them, the evolution of the carbon price, the gas supply price and, of course, the availability of gas, which in turn will be affected by the development of the war.
The report was broadcast on April 05, 2022. You can watch the full report and Nikos Mantzaris’ commentary (in Greek) here: