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In her article published in Ergoliptikon Vima titled “Energy and buildings: The new landscape of efficiency and sustainability”, Εnergy policy analyst Ioanna Souka highlights the pivotal role of buildings in the energy transition and the new landscape taking shape at both European and national level.

Ioanna Souka, Energy Policy Analyst at The Green Tank, spoke on Greece’s troubling lead in Eurostat energy poverty indicators and the forthcoming Social Climate Plan in a radio interview on the programme “O men kai i de”, hosted by Maria Tsakiri and Christos Tsalikidis on 102FM.

A record high in domestic fossil gas consumption was recorded in the first month of the year (8.1 TWh). Most of the imports were LNG (5.36 TWh), which also hit a record high, while Russian gas imports (2.13 TWh) were above the average for the last three years. Electricity accounted for the largest share of consumption (61.9%), while gas networks recorded the largest increase (+15.8% compared to January 2025), reaching 2.3 TWh. Compared to EU-27 Member States, Greece had the 8th highest increase in consumption between 2025 and 2024.

Efforts to weaken the new Emissions Trading System for buildings and road transport (ETS2)—culminating in a one-year delay to its start—make parallel measures essential to ensure its fair and socially sustainable implementation. In this context, the European Commission—following interventions by civil society—has promoted the creation of an ETS2 Frontloading Facility through the European Investment Bank (EIB). This frontloading mechanism will allow Member States to gain early access to future revenues from the auctioning of emission allowances under ETS2 for buildings and road transport.

Greece is far behind the European Union average in the adoption of electric mobility. According to ACEA data, the share of new battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the EU-27 (17.4%) was nearly three times higher than in Greece (6.17%), while the share of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) reached 9.4%, again exceeding the corresponding Greek figure (8.08%). For the first time, the combined share of these two low-emission vehicle categories in the EU-27 (26.8%) surpassed that of conventional petrol vehicles (26.6%).

In an article for energypress, Ioanna Souka, Energy Policy Analyst at The Green Tank, emphasizes that supporting unnecessary gas plants comes at a cost to consumers. The recent ENTSO-E power adequacy study (ERAA 2025) shows that a large portion of gas plants in Greece (3.6–4.1 GW out of a total 7.9 GW) is expected to face economic viability challenges. Any new investment in gas-fired units beyond those included in the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) entails high investment risk and ultimately increases costs for consumers.

The Green Tank voted in favor during the tenth written evaluation process conducted by the Hellenic Managing Authority (EYDAM) under the 2021–2027 Just Transition Development Program (JTDP). The submitted dossier included two projects. The first project concerns energy upgrade works for public and municipal buildings in the North and South Aegean regions, with a total budget of €10 million (€6.854 million for the North Aegean and €3.154 million for the South Aegean).

In 2025, emissions from the ever-polluting lignite plants fell to a historic low (3.68 million tons), while those from gas plants reached a historic high of 8.8 million tons. As a result, total emissions from the power generation sector remained at the same level as in 2024, reaching 15.75 million tons, which is 5.55 million tons above the target set in the NECP for the same year (10.2 million tons). Despite the stagnation in total emissions, the sector's carbon intensity fell to a new low (264.7 g CO2/kWh), due to the increase in the country's total electricity production, part of

In his article for Oikologiki Enimerosi (Ecologica News), Nikos Mantzaris, Policy Lead Analyst and Co-Founder of The Green Tank, examines the progress of Greece’s lignite phase-out and assesses whether it has been accompanied by a truly just and socially responsible transition for lignite-dependent regions.

In 2025, renewables (mainly wind & solar) set a production record, covering 46.7% of electricity demand, despite high curtailments (1,867 GWh), while lignite recorded a historic low (2,723 GWh). At the same time, production from fossil gas reached a historic high (23.3 TWh), which was partly channeled into electricity exports, which also reached a historic high (3 TWh). On the other hand, domestic demand was down compared to 2024, reaching 56.5 TWh. High dependence on expensive fossil gas and the partial utilization of cheap RES resulted in the average price on the wholesale electricity market in 2025 reaching 104.1 €/MWh, an

The Green Tank, together with other environmental NGOs, was invited by the European Commission to provide input for the upcoming EU Semester report and recommendations for Greece. Our submission highlighted key gaps in the country’s energy policy and proposed concrete actions to ensure a fair, sustainable, and citizen-focused energy transition.

Two online meetings on the implementation of EU Regulation 2024/1991 on Nature Restoration in Greece were held on 18 December 2025, organized by the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MoEE) and the Goulandris Natural History Museum / Hellenic Center for Wetlands (EMFHG-EKBY), in collaboration with The Green Tank.

At the public discussion “Talking with the World (Kosmos),” organized by the political party Kosmos on January 22, 2026, to address energy poverty, Ioanna Souka, Energy Policy Analyst at The Green Tank, stressed that energy poverty in Greece is a particularly serious social problem. According to Eurostat and the EU Energy Poverty Advisory Hub, Greece records the highest values across four key energy poverty indicators reflecting socioeconomic impacts and living conditions.

As part of the State of Climate in Greece for 2025, conducted by scientists from the Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development at the National Observatory of Athens and organized by the Climatebook information hub, Nikos Mantzaris presented the results of the Green Tank analysis for the electricity generation sector.