In Greece, the level of annual consumption of renewable energy significantly exceeds the indicators of other European countries and amounts to 55%. This leads to serious problems with electricity in this sunny country, AFP reports, writes UNN.
Details
In Greece, the area around Castron Viotias, about 110 kilometers northwest of Athens, which was once a center of agricultural production, has witnessed the expansion of solar parks over the past 15 years, which is part of a major breakthrough in the development of renewable energy in the country.
Currently, Greece has installed 16 gigawatts of renewable energy, of which solar energy accounts for almost 10 gigawatts, including 2.5 gigawatts that were commissioned last year.
In general, 55% of the country's annual consumption last year was covered by renewable energy sources, with solar energy accounting for about 23%, according to SPEF, an association that unites local solar energy producers.
Thus, Greece has overtaken other European countries, whose figure averages 50%. In 2023, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis predicted that Greece "will soon generate 80% of its electricity needs from renewable energy sources."
But achieving this is proving difficult. SPEF Chairman Stelios Lumakis said the solar sector faced difficulties due to a combination of factors, including Greece's small size, limited infrastructure and delays in building energy storage capacity.
The Greek state has approved too many photovoltaic projects over the past five years, so the market is saturated. This leads to "significant overproduction" on sunny days.
The National Grid Operator of Greece has repeatedly ordered thousands of medium-sized operators to shut down during the sunniest hours of the day in May to avoid overloading the grid and triggering power outages.
The secret is to balance supply and demand. If you don't do it well, you'll get a power outage
To manage the surplus, Greece is increasing its battery storage capacity. But it will take years to catch up with solar power generation.
The next three years will be decisive
In the meantime, solar panel operators will have to ensure that production does not exceed capacity, thereby limiting their potential earnings.
Managing a high share of renewable energy sources, especially solar, requires significant flexibility and energy storage solutions
Addendum
From 2027, in England developers will be required to install solar panels on new houses, which will increase the cost of construction, but will save on electricity.