Island power linkup delay has cost country dearly

Electricity consumers would have been some 4 to 5 billion euros better off if Greece’s island’s had been hooked up to the mainland’s power grid 10 years ago, according to the chairman of Terna Energy, Giorgos Peristeris. Instead, they have to pay a charge for the extra cost of supplying the islands with expensive, locally produced power.

Addressing the listed company’s extraordinary general meeting on Thursday, Peristeris made special mention of the problems that Crete will face in terms of electricity sufficiency due to delays in the implementation of the interconnection project through an underwater cable. He confirmed that his corporation had already proposed some solutions in 2016, adding that it is still awaiting the decision of the competent authorities.

Peristeris criticized the policy of delays in interconnections and the necessary regulations for energy storage investments, which, as he said, could have turned Greece into “a battery” for the European south, and strengthened the country’s energy security and autonomy.

In particular, he cited the planned investment of Terna Energy at Amari on Crete, saying that “if it had proceeded, the problem of energy sufficiency on the islands could have been tackled.”