In June 2025, the carbon intensity of power generation dropped to a historic low of 205.9 g CO2/kWh, driven by reduced lignite use and greater RES participation. However, total emissions in the first half of 2025 reached 7.43 million tons of CO2, a 5% increase compared to the same period in 2024, due to higher gas use, which accounted for 53% of emissions and reached a decade high. With only 2.75 million tons remaining in the annual carbon budget – just 27% of the NECP target (10.2 million tons) – Greece is off track to meet its goal.
Monthly emissions from each power plant in Greece are estimated based on the latest available electricity production data (June 2025 for the interconnected network and for the non-interconnected islands) and the annual CO2 emissions from ETS (2024), following the methodology and assumptions presented here.
In June 2025, carbon intensity[1] of electricity generation reached 205.9 g CO2/kWh, hitting a new historic low (after May 2025). Reduced lignite use and increased RES production this month were the main drivers for the low carbon intensity.
At the same time, the average carbon intensity for the first half of 2025 improved to 261.5 g CO2/kWh, down 3.5% from the average for 2024 (271.1 g CO2/kWh).
Avoiding RES curtailments in the first six months of 2025 could have led to even lower carbon intensity. Based on IPTO’s ISP2 and ISP3 forecasts for the period January to June 2025, RES curtailments reached 1,374 GWh. Without these cuts, emissions from fossil fuel power plants would have been 6.69 million tons, a reduction of 0.73 million tons compared to actual emissions. Similarly, the sector’s carbon intensity would be 10% (25.83 g CO2/kWh) lower than the actual intensity.
In June 2025, carbon emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants were 1.12 million tons, continuing an upward trend that began the previous month and recording a 21% increase compared to May 2025. The upward trend in natural gas use for power generation is the main reason for the increase in carbon emissions. Emissions for the first half of 2025 also increased, reaching a total of 7.43 million tons.
In terms of breakdown of emissions by fuel, emissions from gas-fired power plants amounted to 4.1 million tons, accounting for 55.3% of total emissions and reaching their highest level in at least the last decade (since 2013).
Emissions from lignite power plants totaled 1.92 million tons, the lowest for the first half of the year since 2013. They also decreased by 6.5% compared to the first half of 2024. The low use of lignite for electricity generation and to meet demand in June was reflected in the lowest monthly lignite power plant emissions on record (0.07 million tons).
Meanwhile, emissions from oil-fired power plants on non-interconnected islands were 0.26 million tons for June and 1.2 million tons for the first half of 2025, recording an 8.6% decrease compared to emissions from oil-fired plants in the first half of 2024 (1.31 million tons).
In the first half of 2025, the lignite-fired power plant of Agios Dimitrios remained at the top of the list of polluters with 1.4 million tons, even though it produced very little in June (4.47 GWh). Agios Dimitrios is responsible for 19% of the sector’s total emissions for the six-month period and 73% of emissions from lignite plants.
Megalopolis V ranked second with 0.57 million tons for the first half of the year, marking an increase of 21.1% compared to the same period in 2024. Megalopolis V is responsible for 14% of emissions from natural gas plants. In third place was the Lavrio IV-V power plant with emissions of 0.53 million tons for the half-year and up 24.2% from the first half of 2024.
The list of top five polluters was completed with the power plants of Ag. Nikolaos II and Ptolemaida 5, with emissions of 0.529 million tons and 0.495 million tons respectively for the six-month period.
On the non-interconnected islands, the five largest polluters were the three power stations in Crete and the two power stations on the island of Rhodes. Specifically in Crete, Atherinolakos recorded emissions of 0.285 million tons and was responsible for 24% of total emissions from oil-fired power units. Linoperamata emitted 0.182 million tons, and the Chania plant emitted 0.095 million tons during the six-month period. On the island of Rhodes, the Rhodes plant recorded emissions of 0.122 million tons, while the N.Rhodes plant noted emissions of 0.107 million tons for the six-month period.
According to the revised National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) submitted in January 2025 to the European Commission, emissions in the electricity sector are expected to decrease significantly in the coming years. In particular, the target for 2030 is a maximum of 4 million tons of emissions from all three fuels (lignite, fossil gas, oil). This marks a substantial decrease (-91%) compared to 2013, the year in which thermal power plants first began paying for their carbon emissions under the Emissions Trading System (ETS).
In the final NECP, the estimated emissions for 2025 are 10.2 million tons, 5.573 million tons, less than in 2024 (15.77 million tons). In the first half of 2025, a total of 7.34 million tons are estimated to have been emitted from the power generation sector. This represents 72.8% of the available carbon budget for the whole year. With 2.774 million tons remaining in the sector’s carbon budget for the year, the country is off track to meet its 2025 NECP target.
You can explore how electricity sector emissions evolved since 2013, as well as find analyses from previous months here.
[1] Carbon intensity is defined as the ratio of emissions from the three fuels (lignite, gas and oil, including CHP) to the country’s total electricity production from the interconnected grid and the non-interconnected islands.
