High investment in renewable energy sources
Greece achieved its highest ever performance in investing on energy production from renewable energy sources (RES) in 2020, according to a global index.
Greece was in 26th place in the Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI), published by international consultancy EY since 2003. It was 331st in 2019 and 28th in 2018.
Greece’s improvement in 2020 is attributed to the competitive auctions for RES power stations adopted by the Regulatory Authority for Energy, which aims to award licenses for the production of 2.1 gigawatts of energy from RES by 2025.
The bidding has been assisted by the introduction of an online platform for prospective investors that streamlines all the stages, from bidding calls to the awarding of licenses, for RES projects.
“Greece’s rise to its highest ranking ever on the global RECAI index reflects the country’s significant commitments to wean itself off lignite and promote renewable energy sources,” said Tassos Iossiphides, EY Greece partner and head of strategy and transactions. “The challenge lies in the implementation and the modernization of the legal and regulatory frameworks in order to maintain this positive momentum and to implement the necessary investments in wind and solar energy, energy storage, smart networks and the infrastructure for the transfer of low carbon emissions,” added Iossiphides, noting that Greece must take advantage of European Union money provided through the Recovery and Resilience Fund.
Globally, the EY report underlines, €4.4 trillion in clean energy investments are needed in the medium term, with institutional investors having an important role in raising the money.
The United States retained first place in the RECAI index in 2020 and is expected to stay there in 2021 now that the Biden administration has rejoined the Paris Agreement and the adoption of the goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 to levels 50%-52% lower than in 1990 and produce 100% carbon-free energy by 2035.
China, which produced 74.2 GW of new wind energy capacity in 2020, remained in second place, while India rose to third place, with plans to produce more energy from solar systems than carbon by 2040.
