Greece runs on 100% renewables for the first time on record

Greece was powered entirely by renewables for the first time ever last week, according to the country’s independent power transmission operator (IPTO).

On Monday, IPTO said that renewables accounted for 100% of power generation in Greece for at least five hours, reaching a record high of 3,106 megawatt hours at 0800 GMT:

For the first time in the history of the Greek electricity system, the demand was covered 100% from renewable energy sources.

With the interconnections implemented by IPTO on land and sea, new electrical capacity is created for even greater [renewable energy sources] penetration that will make our energy mix even greener in the coming years.

Reuters notes:

Greece aims to attract about 30 billion of euros in European funds and private investments to upgrade its electricity grid and more than double its green energy capacity to account for at least 70% of its energy mix by 2030.

It plans to have 25 gigawatt of installed renewable energy capacity from about 10 gigawatt now but analysts say Athens might reach that target sooner.

In April, Electrek reported that Greece inaugurated a 204 MW solar farm in Kozani, in the country’s Western Macedonia region, which has long been Greece’s largest coal-producing region. Kozani is the largest solar farm with bifacial panels in Europe and the largest utility-scale solar farm in southeastern Europe.

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