New Greek cable to unblock wind park projects
June Samaras
New Greek cable to unblock wind park projects
ATHENS, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Greece on Thursday approved a plan by renewable energy producers to build a key cable link that will allow wind park projects worth 500 million euros ($748.5 million) to go ahead.
This is the first measure taken by the country's new socialist government to boost renewable energy production as part of its "green growth" model.
Greece's new government has said it wants to cut red tape and tap solar and wind power resources to turn the country into a "Denmark of the South", producing a fifth of its total energy from renewable sources by 2020.
The decision allows renewable energy producers with wind park projects on the islands of Evia and the Cyclades to co-finance a submarine cable to link them to the mainland.
The cable will be built by Greece's dominant power producer Public Power Corp (PPC) (DEHr.AT). The wind park projects, currently under licensing, are for a total 400 megawatts. The investment is seen topping 500 million euros, the government said.
"After their connection, the new wind parks are estimated to produce about 1.2 million megawatt hours of clean electricity," the Environment and Energy Ministry said in a statement.
Greece's outdated electricity grid needs investment to extend to remote parts of the country, where renewable energy plans abound because of strong winds.
(Reporting by Harry Papachristou; editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
