Gov’t eyes huge investment in cleaner energy switch
Greece hopes to generate investment worth about 44 billion euros over the next decade in projects to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, authorities said on Thursday.
A gameplan approved by the cabinet on Thursday showed Greece will try to reduce its carbon footprint by more than 55 percent by 2030 compared with 2005, and would close down all its coal-fired power plants in the next eight years.
Wind, solar and hydroelectric power should account for at least 35 percent of energy consumption by then, up from about 15 percent in 2016, with investments worth about 9 billion euros.
Other investments will be made in natural gas networks and recycling projects.
Athens expects this investment to consist largely of government spending, combined with European Union funds and foreign investment.
Oil and gas imports account for over 65 percent of total energy consumption in Greece.
“Climate change is here and we are living with the consequences on a daily basis,” Environment and Energy Minister Kostis Hatzidakis told journalists.
The country will invest about 2 billion euros in the next 10 years to help tackle natural disasters from climate change like floods and forest fires.
Torrential storms this week caused flash floods and the deaths of three people, while forest fires are common in Greece.
In its worst tragedy, 102 people died when a fire ripped through the coastal village of Mati in July 2018.
[Reuters]
