According to the latest monthly data for the interconnected electricity network from ADMIE (August 2022):
Cumulatively for the first 8 months in Greece, renewables excluding large hydro surpassed all other energy source with 13238 GWh, leaving fossil gas in the second place with 13150 GWh which decreased slightly for the first time since 2018.
However, contrary to what happened during the 7 first months of the year, cumulative lignite production in the first 8 months of 2022 (3995GWh) exceeded that of the same period in 2021 (3854 GWh) by 141 GWh.
A considerable reduction was observed in the net electricity imports which were the lowest since 2013, with 1912 GWh in the first 8 months of 2022.
In terms of shares, renewables covered 37.5% of the demand, fossil gas 37.2% reducing its share for the first time since 2017, lignite 11.3%, large hydro 8.6%, while the share of net imports was reduced to 5.4%.
As a result, renewables achieved the highest percentage increase among the energy sources, increasing their production by 19.2% cumulatively in the first 8 months of 2022 compared to the same period of 2021. Apart from renewables, electricity production from lignite was also increased compared to 2021, but only by 3.7%.
On the contrary, fossil gas decreased by 1% compared to 2021, while a significant decrease was observed in the net imports of Greece, mainly due to the increased electricity exports the last couple of months.
Despite the steady increase in the electricity coming from renewables, cumulatively in the first 8 months of the year, most of the energy was produced from fossil fuels (fossil gas and lignite), with the gap between them continuously shrinking.
Although in the first 6 months of the year renewables and large hydro surpassed the electricity production of fossil fuels, this was reversed due to the “traditionally” increased electricity from fossil fuels during the summer months in order to meet the increased electricity demand during that period.
Specifically in August:
- Energy from fossil gas (2142 GWh) was the second highest of 2022, but lower than that of August 2021.
- The production from renewables (1633 GWh) was at the average monthly levels of the year, but clearly higher than August 2021 (1401 GWh).
- Lignite production increased reaching 795 GWh, the highest since December 2020, covering 17% of the month’s demand.
- For the 2nd consecutive month and for the 3rd month in 2022, Greece exported more electricity than imported.
