Greece Will Develop Large-scale PV Hydrogen
Oct 27, 2022
HiveEnergy, a British renewable energy developer, said it plans to build a large-scale photovoltaic hydrogen production project in Greece. The project consists of three parts: photovoltaic power station, energy storage power station and electrolytic cell. The total installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation is about 200,000 kW, the installed capacity of lithium battery energy storage power station is about 100,000 kW, and the installed capacity of electrolytic cell is about 50,000 kW. After completion, it can produce 16 tons of hydrogen per day. With a total investment of 226.4 million euros, the project will be supported by the Greek Inter-Ministerial Committee for Strategic Investments, making it the first photovoltaic hydrogen production project to receive strategic investment at the Greek national level.
As Europe's energy transition accelerates, green and clean energy sources such as photovoltaic and hydrogen are seen as key to reducing emissions and achieving carbon reduction targets. Greek government officials spoke highly of the photovoltaic hydrogen production project: "The project will promote the development of a green economy in Greece, accelerate the renewal and iteration of innovative new renewable energy technologies, help Greece to save energy and decarbonize, and reduce its environmental impact. At the same time, reduce Greece's dependence on gas and oil to help us cope with the energy crisis. This is why we have awarded the project national strategic investment status."
Foreign media pointed out that the Greek inter-ministerial Committee on Strategic Investment has never included photovoltaic hydrogen production projects in the list of national strategic investments. Normally, the Greek Inter-Ministerial Committee on Strategic Investments does not approve any innovative photovoltaic projects. The project has opened the eyes of the capital market to the potential of renewable energy development in Greece, and will attract the attention of investors and open up financing channels for related projects. Under the background of the strong support of the Greek government, the approval, approval, permit and other administrative procedures of the relevant projects will also be on the fast track to accelerate the landing of green cleaning projects in Greece.
Greece, a vocal opponent of the EU's ban on imports of Russian crude oil and petroleum products, is accelerating the development of its renewable energy industry and increasing support for photovoltaics. In recent years, the annual newly installed scale of photovoltaic power generation in Greece has approached million kilowatts. Greece has completed 100% renewable energy for the first time, the country's national grid company announced.
"On October 7th, Greece generated a record 316,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity from 100 percent renewable sources for five hours. This is the first time in the history of the Greek power system." "Our energy mix will change radically over the next few years as renewable energy installations continue to grow and green electricity continues to penetrate," said a spokesman for the Greek National Grid.
However, the development of photovoltaic projects in Greece is still limited compared with the country's sunshine resources, which are among the in Europe. In the January-August period, renewables accounted for 46% of Greece's electricity, up from 42% in 2021, but not yet more than half of the electricity mix, according to Greek think tank TheGreenTank. According to data compiled by the TASS news agency, Greece's dependence on Russian gas is about 96.4 percent, still at a high level.
In April, Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis said at the unveiling ceremony of a photovoltaic power project that the country would have to postpone the phasing out of coal power from 2025 to 2028 due to the slow pace of renewable energy projects and volatile carbon prices. Even after postponing the closure of coal plants, the market is worried that new photovoltaic projects will not be able to cover Greece's electricity needs.
According to PV-Tech, the Greek PV market is "poised to take off" amid the EU's increased renewable energy targets and clean energy policies. In May, the European Union formally approved the REPowerEU Energy plan, in order to reduce external energy dependence and achieve energy independence by 2027, fast forward the green energy transition. It raised its target for renewable energy consumption from 40 percent to 45 percent by 2030, and proposed that cumulative installed photovoltaic power capacity reach 320 GW by 2025 and 600 GW by 2030.
At the same time, the EU approved a €2.27 billion renewable energy project to support the development of renewable electricity in Greece, which is expected to lead to an additional 4.2 GW of renewable energy installations. In addition, in September, the EU approved IPCEI-Hy2Use, which will provide €5.2 billion for renewable hydrogen production projects in 13 member States to support research and innovation in the hydrogen value chain as well as industrial applications and related infrastructure construction, which will further promote the decarbonization process in Greece.
