Plan B on energy: Back to lignite
Government has signaled to PPC it should raise share of coal in fuel mix up to 17-20%
The government is promoting a plan for the maximum utilization of lignite in order to increase its participation in the fuel mix for power generation and limit the use of expensive natural gas, despite an original timetable for making the country coal free as of 2023.
PPC has already been forced to freeze its delignitization program. Following the decision by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in April to increase mine production by 50%, Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas gave instructions to Public Power Corporation to increase lignite’s share in the electricity generation mix to 17-20% from 5% last year.
Within the first 12 days of July, lignite reached a 16.3% share, while the participation of natural gas remains at the high level of 48.6%. Data alone leave no room for questioning the correctness of the decision for more active participation of lignite. After all, Europe is turning to coal to keep the lights on. What remains to be seen is to what extent it is feasible and in what timeframe it can be implemented.
In practice, this entails the quadrupling of lignite production and continuous operation of PPC’s seven lignite plants (five in Agios Dimitrios, one in Meliti and Megalopolis 4) on a daily basis. This means an intensification of production in the mines after two years of divestment by PPC as part of the delignitization program, a process that will take both time and money. “If I start digging today I will have an immediate result after six or seven months. You can’t just press a button and get the lignite out. Money is also needed in order to hire equipment and workers,” a PPC official who declined to be named told Kathimerini.
The ministry and PPC management are in talks for the “lignite comeback.” “The order to increase the ratio of lignite to 17-20% of the mixture has been given. How it will be implemented technically is a matter for PPC,” stated Skrekas.
In any case, the contribution of the new Ptolemaida 5 unit, which will go into trial operation in the fall, will be significant.
