Greece has released its final version of its National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) that reflects the country energy and climate strategy for the period 2021 to 2030. By 2030, final energy consumption should not exceed 16.1-16.5 Mtoe by 2030 (38% energy efficiency improvement), and primary energy consumption should not exceed 22.5 Mtoe (at least 7 Mtoe of cumulative energy savings over the 2021-2030 period). Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will have to be cut by at at least 42% compared with 1990 (by more than 55% compared to 2005) and all lignite-fired power plants will progressively shut down until 2028.
The NECP sets a target of more than 35% of renewables in the gross final energy consumption by 2030; renewables should cover between 61% and 64% of final electricity consumption, 40% of heating and cooling energy consumption and 14% of transport consumption. By 2030, the wind power capacity should surge from 2.8 GW in 2018 to 3.6 GW in 2020 and 7 GW in 2030, while the solar PV capacity should more than double from 2.6 GW in 2018 to 3 GW in 2020 and 7.7 GW in 2030 (from 3.4 GW to 3.7 GW for hydropower).
Overall, the NECP foresees a total investment of €43.8bn to achieve its energy transition and reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. In the power sector, Greece plans to invest €9bn in renewables, €5.5bn in power infrastructure, €1.3bn in new thermal power plants and centralised storage units, €3.5bn in the digitalisation of its electricity distribution network. Another €4.2bn will be invested in gas networks, including €2.2bn in gas interconnections and €2bn in domestic gas pipelines and gas storage capacities, and a total of €11bn will be invested in energy efficiency. Greece will also invest in forest management (€2bn) and in circular economy and recycling (€5bn).
By the end of 2020, all the European Union (EU) member states must submit their final NECP to present how they will contribute to the EU’s 2030 climate and energy targets.
Interested in Global Energy Research?
Enerdata's premium online information service provides up-to-date market reports on 110+ countries. The reports include valuable market data and analysis as well as a daily newsfeed, curated by our energy analysts, on the oil, gas, coal and power markets.
This user-friendly tool gives you the essentials about the domestic markets of your concern, including market structure, organisation, actors, projects and business perspectives.