In a historical moment for the country’s energy system, Greece has managed to reduce its fossil gas consumption and electricity imports, as its electricity mix is increasingly based on renewable energy sources. This significant shift, documented in The Green Tank’s monthly analyses on electricity production and fossil gas consumption and imports, is commented by Nikos Mantzaris in his op-ed at Kathimerini Sunday Edition.
According to the latest monthly data for the interconnected electricity network from ADMIE (October 2022), renewables (mainly wind and solar) together with large hydro covered 47% of electricity demand in the first 10 months of 2022, surpassing for the first time in history the cumulative contribution of lignite and fossil gas (46%) in the same period. At the same time, there is a significant decline in fossil gas consumption up to -18%. Nikos Mantzaris points out the benefits of this turn both for the cost of electricity bills and the shift of citizens towards self-produced electricity from renewables. This is a development that, together with its positive impact on the climate and the environment, disproves scenarios for a return to lignite as well as plans for new gas infrastructure.
The article was published in Kathimerini Sunday Edition, on December 4, 2022, and it is available at kathimerini.gr.
