wind energy in greece: an interdisciplinary analysis …energy on a countrywide level and within...
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Wind Energy in Greece: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Greece's Progress Towards EU RES Targets
Author: Therese Miranda Mentor: Joanna Lewis, PhD
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of Honors in
Science, Technology & International Affairs, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Spring 2009
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Table of Contents
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................................. 4
(1) INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................. 5
(2) LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................................................................... 7
(2.1) SITING, TRANSMISSION, AND GRID INTEGRATION ............................................................................................. 9(2.1.1) Grid Infrastructure.................................................................................................................................. 10(2.1.2) Storage Technologies .............................................................................................................................. 11(2.1.3) Siting Concerns ....................................................................................................................................... 12(2.1.4) Distributed Generation (DG).................................................................................................................. 13
(2.2)ECONOMIC ASPECTS......................................................................................................................................... 14(2.2.1) Deregulation ........................................................................................................................................... 16(2.2.2) Support Schemes: Feed-in Tariffs........................................................................................................... 18(2.2.3) Carbon Pricing and Trading................................................................................................................... 20
(2.3) GOVERNMENT ATTITUDES AND LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK ........................................................................... 21(2.4) SOCIAL ASPECTS.............................................................................................................................................. 22(2.5) ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS ............................................................................................................................. 26(2.6) INTER-DISCIPLINARY WORKS .......................................................................................................................... 27
(3) METHODS............................................................................................................................................................ 30
(3.1) SELECTION OF GREECE AND REGIONS ............................................................................................................. 30(3.2) RATIONALE FOR A HOLISTIC APPROACH ......................................................................................................... 34(3.3) DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONS ........................................................................................................................ 35
(3.3.1) Cycladic Islands ...................................................................................................................................... 36(3.3.2) Crete........................................................................................................................................................ 37(3.3.3) Interconnected Greece (Mainland) ......................................................................................................... 38
(3.4) DATA SOURCES................................................................................................................................................ 39(3.5) CHALLENGES AND LIMITATIONS ..................................................................................................................... 40
(4) NATIONAL AND REGIONAL STUDIES ........................................................................................................ 42
(4.1) NATIONAL STUDY – COUNTRYWIDE FACTORS ................................................................................................ 42(4.1.1) Basics about Greece................................................................................................................................ 43(4.1.2) Role of the European Union.................................................................................................................... 45(4.1.3) Greek Government and Legislative Framework ..................................................................................... 51(4.1.4) National Economic Factors .................................................................................................................... 52(4.1.5) The Public Power Corporation (PPC).................................................................................................... 56(4.1.6) Greek Ministries and Governing Bodies................................................................................................. 58(4.1.7) Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE).................................................................................................. 59(4.1.8) Greek Transmission Operator (DESMIE) .............................................................................................. 60(4.1.9) Centre for Renewable Energy Studies (CRES) ....................................................................................... 61
(4.2) REGIONAL STUDY I – CYCLADIC ISLANDS....................................................................................................... 62(4.2.1) Energy Demand....................................................................................................................................... 63(4.2.2) Current Energy Sources.......................................................................................................................... 64(4.2.3) Wind Potential and Market Penetration ................................................................................................. 65(4.2.4) Economic Factors ................................................................................................................................... 67(4.2.5) Social and Political Factors ................................................................................................................... 69
(4.3) REGIONAL STUDY II – CRETE .......................................................................................................................... 72(4.3.1) Energy Demand....................................................................................................................................... 72(4.3.2) Current Energy Sources.......................................................................................................................... 74(4.3.3) Wind Potential and Market Penetration ................................................................................................. 76(4.3.4) Economic Factors ................................................................................................................................... 78(4.3.5) Social and Political Factors ................................................................................................................... 78
(4.4) REGIONAL STUDY III – INTERCONNECTED GREECE......................................................................................... 80
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(4.4.1) Energy Demand....................................................................................................................................... 80(4.4.2) Current Energy Sources.......................................................................................................................... 81(4.4.3) Wind Potential and Market Penetration ................................................................................................. 82(4.4.4) Economic Factors ................................................................................................................................... 83(4.4.5) Social and Political Factors ................................................................................................................... 84
(5) FINDINGS............................................................................................................................................................. 87
(5.1) OVERALL ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................................................ 87(5.1.1) The Cycladic Islands ............................................................................................................................... 87(5.1.2) Crete........................................................................................................................................................ 88(5.1.3) Interconnected Greece ............................................................................................................................ 89
(5.2) POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS.................................................................................................................................... 89(5.2.1) Hybrid Plants – Wind and Storage ......................................................................................................... 91(5.2.2) Interconnection ....................................................................................................................................... 95(5.2.3) Grid Expansion and a Smartgrid .......................................................................................................... 100(5.2.4) Social Outreach..................................................................................................................................... 101
(6) ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................................................................... 105
(6.1) GRID CONSTRAINTS....................................................................................................................................... 105(6.2) EUROPEAN UNION – GREECE INTERACTIONS ................................................................................................ 111(6.3) PUBLIC ATTITUDES AND MISINFORMATION................................................................................................... 114(6.4) BROADER IMPLICATIONS ............................................................................................................................... 116
(7) CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................................... 120
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................................................... 125
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Figures and Tables
FIGURE 1: REGIONAL AREAS OF STUDY.......................................................................................................................... 8FIGURE 2: ADMINISTRATIVE REGIONS OF GREECE AND SELECTED CITIES ................................................................... 31TABLE 1: REGIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CYCLADIC ISLANDS, CRETE, AND MAINLAND GREECE............................ 35TABLE 2: RES PRODUCTION, TARGETS AND PROGRESS FOR EU-25............................................................................. 47FIGURE 3: GREEK SHARE OF RES ................................................................................................................................. 49TABLE 3: GREEK FEED-IN TARIFFS ............................................................................................................................... 53FIGURE 4: MAP OF THE CYCLADIC ISLANDS ................................................................................................................. 63FIGURE 5: LOGISTIC ENERGY DEMAND PROJECTIONS FOR CRETE................................................................................ 73FIGURE 6: SYSTEM LOAD CURVE FOR CRETE ............................................................................................................... 75FIGURE 7: HV TRANSMISSION SYSTEM AND GENERATING PLANTS ON CRETE............................................................. 76FIGURE 8: WIND SPEED ON CRETE................................................................................................................................ 77FIGURE 9: EXISTING AND PROPOSED INTERCONNECTION OF THE CYCLADIC ISLANDS ................................................. 98
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Abstract European Union Directive 2001/77/EC set an indicative target for Greece to obtain 20.1% of its electricity from renewable energy sources (RES) by 2010. Greece will not achieve this target, but the challenges faced by the country offer a number of valuable lessons for its efforts to reach the mandatory target for 2020 set by a new Directive. This thesis analyzes economic, technical, social, and political factors that influence the development of wind resources in Greece. The primary methodology is qualitative comparisons conducted via regional studies of the Cycladic Islands, Crete, and interconnected Greece. The thesis concludes that (1) adequate grid capacity is essential to the successful development of wind installations; (2) EU membership has and will continue to push Greece towards more rapid development of RES than Greece would have pursued independently; and (3) social support makes the development of wind installations much easier; thus, governments should include social outreach efforts in their plans to increase wind penetration. While much of the research used to support these conclusions is specific to Greece, the conclusions themselves are applicable to numerous settings outside Greece.
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(1) Introduction Greece, as a member of the European Union, must comply with all EU directives.
Directive 2001/77/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union “on
the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources in the internal electricity
market” set a target of producing 22% of the Community’s electricity from renewable energy
sources by 2010.1 Under the directive, Greece needed to produce 20.1% of its electricity from
renewable energy sources (RES). Greece’s strongest renewable energy resource is wind, so the
country has focused primarily on developing wind farms. In January 2007, the Renewable
Energy Roadmap strengthened Directive 2001/77/EC. The European Parliament passed a new
Directive in December 2008 that sets compulsory targets requiring the EU to obtain 20% of its
energy mix for electricity, heating and cooling, and transportation from renewable sources by
2020.2 It is evident that Greece will not meet its targets under Directive 2001/77/EC because of
the challenges it has faced in past efforts to develop wind installations. This thesis examines the
conditions that influence the development of wind installations and potential paths forward, with
the ultimate goal of determining what prevented Greece from achieving its 2010 goals and what
will put the country in the best position to achieve its 2020 targets.
This thesis provides an overarching assessment of the current situation facing wind
energy on a countrywide level and within three geographic regions: the Cycladic Islands, the
island of Crete, and the areas of Greece served by the national interconnected gird. Section 2
examines the existing body of literature regarding technical, economic, social, bureaucratic and
1 The European Community is one of the three pillars of the European Union. The pillar system allows for variation in balance between supra-nationalism and intergovernmentalism. The European Community is primarily supranational, meaning decisions are made using majority votes among member-states. As a result, it is possible to force member-states to enact actions against their will in areas that fall within the jurisdiction of the European Community. The Community is concerned with economic, social and environmental policies of EU member-states. 2 As of April 2009, the Directive had not been published in the Official Gazette. As a result, it is not in effect and does not have a number assigned to it. In this thesis, “the new Directive” or “2020 targets” are used to refer to this Directive.
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legislative frameworks in a global context. Next, the Methods section (Section 3) discusses the
rationale for selecting Greece, using a holistic assessment, and employing regional studies. This
section also explains the data sources used and the limitations of this thesis. Section 4 presents
in-depth national and regional studies. Next, the Findings section (Section 5) summarizes the
situation in each of the regions and offers potential solutions to the challenges they face. The
solutions address both technical and social obstacles. The Analysis section (Section 6) explores
what the results of the regional studies mean for Greece’s future efforts to increase RES
deployment and the global implications of specific findings about Greece and the three regions.
Ultimately, this thesis assesses Greece’s progress to date, makes recommendations for future
progress, and suggests ways in which findings from Greece may be applicable to the broader
world.
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(2) Literature Review In order to determine what course of action will put Greece in the best position to meet its
targets for RES installation, it is necessary to examine several aspects of wind energy. They are:
(1) siting, transmission, and grid integration challenges; (2) competing energy sources; (3) the
role of government entities and state-owned players in the energy market; (4) political and social
attitudes towards renewable energy in general and wind turbines specifically; and (5) European
Union policy and resulting pressures. However, most past literature on wind energy does not
follow these divisions. Rather, it focuses on (1) technical challenges, including plant design, grid
integration, and transmission; (2) economic assessments of proposed installations; and
assessments of non-technical barriers to RES deployment, including (3) social attitudes and (4)
bureaucratic or legislative frameworks. Recently, there has been a decline in discussion of (5) the
overall environmental impact of wind installations. Lastly, the current body of literature does not
address in detail (6) the interactions between these fields in Greece, although the global body of
literature is beginning to recognize and address this challenge.
The ease of developing wind resources varies based on local factors. Thus, studies of
Greece generally distinguish between the conditions on small islands, large islands, and the
mainland because of their vastly different energy systems. John K. Kaldellis, one of the most
prolific scholars on wind energy in Greece, divides his analysis into the Aegean Sea Islands,
Crete, and windy areas of the mainland (Kaldellis 2004).3 This thesis presents an assessment of
countrywide factors, as well as regional studies of the autonomous power systems found in the
3 The Aegean Sea Islands is composed of several smaller island groups, including the Cycladic Islands.
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Cycladic Island group; Crete, which represents the largest island power system in Greece; and
the interconnected mainland. 4
Figure 1: Regional Areas of Study
Image source: Wikimedia Commons Labels: Therese Miranda
4 Technically, interconnected Greece includes the island of Euboea, mainland Greece, and a handful of small islands close to the coastline, but for the sake of simplicity, this paper uses the term mainland as equivalent to interconnected Greece. Euboea is an extremely large island running along the western coast of Greece: only a short distance separates the island and mainland. Its transmission system is part of Greece’s main transmission grid, and the island has a great deal more in common with the mainland than with other Greek islands.
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(2.1) Siting, Transmission, and Grid Integration In order to implement wind energy, a region must be able to integrate an intermittent
source of energy into the existing grid without causing instability in the system. Several case
studies have examined wind energy and the transmission grid in Greece (Georgilakis 2008;
Hammons 2008; Papadopoulos, Glinou, and Papachristos 2008). One study analyzed the
technical challenges and social welfare impact associated with various energy policies, rather
than merely performing a lowest-cost assessment (Zouros, Contaxis, and Kabouris 2005).
Georgilakis’ work combines a technical assessment of the challenges with economic analysis of
the cost of overcoming these challenges; he concludes that wind energy is generally feasible and
relatively inexpensive at levels up to 20% penetration in interconnected systems (Georgilakis
2008). However, the actual level of penetration that specific settings can achieve depends on
wind potential, grid infrastructure, level of demand, and financial incentives (Hammons 2008;
Kaldellis 2008; Tsioliaridou, Bakos, and Stadler 2006). Limits to grid penetration for wind
currently constrain wind power implementation on small islands with relatively low demand and
independent grids.5 In the future, these constraints will become a concern on the mainland as
well. Due to the intermittent nature of wind and varying levels of demand, it is difficult for wind
penetration to exceed 30% using current commercial technologies; in isolated systems, economic
returns begin to decline closer to the 10% mark because of increasing wind power rejection.
Energy storage systems can increase penetration by storing excess energy for use in peak load
shaving (Anagnostopoulos and Papantonis 2008). Additionally, a more advanced transmission
infrastructure that incorporates digital technologies and a web-like structure could better handle
distributed power generation and the integration of intermittent renewables, this alleviating many
of the current concerns (Hammons 2008).
5 The terms “autonomous” or “autonomous islands” refer to these systems.
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(2.1.1) Grid Infrastructure Scholars generally agree that transmission grids across the globe will need updating in
order to accommodate growing levels of demand and the intermittent distributed generation
associated with RES such as solar and wind (Anderson 2004). These new grids involve an
assortment of technologies collectively referred to as smartgrids. Experts believe the new grids
will look more like webs than the current hub-and-spoke systems. The systems will require
automated decision-making capabilities because the speed they require is rapidly exceeding
human abilities. Anderson believes the first stages of a smartgrid will be the installation of higher
capacity transmission lines, digital controls, and electronic switches. A smartgrid must have
systems capable of viewing the whole grid and directing the flow of electrons almost
instantaneously. New transmission systems will rely on the model provided by internet packet
switching: by sending power through multiple pathways and reassembling it at the destination,
the new system will alleviate congestion effects. New hardware such as thyristors will be
necessary to provide a buffer against cascading failures. The grid should also utilize distributed
storage capacity in order to deal with the spikes and sags associated with large-scale wind and
solar generation: Anderson suggests High Temperature Superconductivity (HTSC) storage
(Anderson 2004).
The new grids will also have to address transmission losses, which currently discourage
utilities from transporting power over long distances, transmission losses. One option for long-
distance transportation is high voltage direct current (HVDC). HVDC has lower transmission
losses than the more commonly used high voltage alternating current (HVAC) technology, but
the transmission operator must convert DC power back to AC power before feeding it into the
main transmission grid. However, Papadopoulos et al. believe that using a new technology
known as HVDC Light in parallel with a weak AC grid shows great potential for addressing not
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only transmission issues, but also the supply challenges associated with intermittent renewables
(Papadopoulos et al. 2004). Integrating RES remains a problem and there is a need for further
research. Innovations in transmission line materials are likely to occur in the long run. One
possibility is quantum wires, nano-scale transmission wires that have the potential to decrease or
eliminate line losses and weather dependencies, making long distance electricity transmission
more viable from an economic and technical perspective (Anderson 2004).
Because research is ongoing, there is a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the future
technological development of smartgrid components. Additionally, the impact of integrating
existing smartgrid technologies into the current electricity grids is unclear. Contained testing of
the new technologies and further research in this field are necessary. As smartgrid technologies
improve and deployment increases, the level of renewable penetration that is technically wise
will increase (Anderson 2004).
(2.1.2) Storage Technologies The ability to store excess energy during periods of low demand for use during periods of
high demand dramatically improves the efficiency of RES. Regions that are close to the
maximum level of RES penetration that the grid can safely support need storage technology the
most urgent, but most scholars believe energy storage will play a key role in all future energy
systems. System managers can either integrate storage technologies, such as HTSC into the
transmission grid or storage facilities at power generating sites (Anagnostopoulos and Papantonis
2008; Anderson 2004; Katsaprakakis et al. 2007; Katsaprakakis et al. 2008).
On the islands, storage will play a key role in increasing RES penetration because wind
power rejection results from the technical minima of conventional plants rather than inadequate
grid capacity. If the sum of the amount of wind energy generated and the amount of energy
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conventional plants must generate to avoid damage is more than the total local demand, wind
energy is rejected by the system (Anagnostopoulos and Papantonis 2008). Storage technology
could increase penetration in isolated systems by better matching supply and demand. One
option is a pumped storage system that uses excess electricity from the wind farm to pump water
to a higher elevation. When wind capacity is insufficient to meet demand, the stored water
powers a small-scale hydro-powered generator (Katsaprakakis et al. 2007; Katsaprakakis et al.
2008).
(2.1.3) Siting Concerns The location and type of turbine installed also affects the potential capacity of a wind
installation. Troen and Peterson (1989) compiled mappings of wind potential across Europe
during the 1980s, providing a starting point for siting decisions (Troen and Petersen 1989).
However, entities considering developing RES resources at various sites should take more recent
and detailed measurements. Existing estimates of wind power potentials for several areas of
western Greece providing a starting point and methodology for determining which sites offer the
greatest wind power potential and economic advantage (Bagiorgas et al. 2007). Further analysis
of specific sites in Greece and around the globe will be necessary as installation of wind turbines
proceeds. One promising method uses of geographic information systems (GIS) technology to
select possible sites based on multiple criteria such as wind speed, terrain, proximity to
transmission capacity, and visibility from important landmarks (Hatziargyriou et al. 2007).
However, this method requires substantial amounts of base data: it must be possible to link
digitized geographic information to information in a database. Given that a lack of standardized
or consistent data is a significant problem in the American GIS community, it is safe to assume
that this is even more of an issue on a global level.
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(2.1.4) Distributed Generation (DG) RES technologies generally rely on a more distributed model of generation than
conventional sources because of capacity and intermittency constraints. Even very large wind
farms have significantly lower capacity factors than thermal plants, while intermittency issues
mean that distributing installations geographically is generally beneficial. Distributed generation
(DG) can refer to either relatively low capacity geographically dispersed commercial generating
plants or consumer-level installations. Examples of consumer DG include solar panels on a
home or business, solar water heaters, or diesel-powered generators: some use renewable fuels
and others do not. On-site DG systems allow for cost-savings by decreasing inefficiencies
associated with transportation and distribution (Carley 2009). Additionally, they can increase the
security, reliability, and availability of electric systems, and reduce peak demand. Under net
metering conditions, consumers can sell excess power generated on-site back to the utility. Most
proposed wind farms fall into the medium to large DG category of 5-300 MW capacity. While
there is some debate about whether installations of this size truly qualify as DG, the factors that
encourage the development of DG are also likely to influence the development of these larger
scale installations.
Power providers using public utility-ownership models are generally less likely to deploy
DG than are privately owned power providers of public utility models, cooperative and
municipal utilities are least likely to develop DG capacity. Higher levels of DG adoption are
correlated with higher summer peaks, higher electricity prices, and higher household income.
Additionally, utilities operating in deregulated markets or following net metering protocols are
more likely to adopt DG (Carley 2009).
Carley (2009) found that in the United States, a negative correlation exists between
Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) and levels of DG capacity. This may indicate a decision
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by utilities to prioritize investment in large-scale renewables over DG, leading to direct
competition between large-scale RES and small-scale DG. Further consideration of the
connections between DG and RES developments – some, but not all DG uses RES sources – and
the interactions between large and small-scale installations is necessary.
In general, scholarly literature addresses the known technical challenges relating to the
deployment of wind installations although new challenges are frequently discovered. A number
of case studies analyze the wind potential in various regions or suggest the ideal technical
solution for overcoming current limits to RES market penetration. Most pieces include an
assessment of the economic costs associated with their proposals. Despite this, RES research is a
relatively new field, and a number of issues regarding wind integration and grid design still
require further research. New discoveries related to smartgrids, turbine design, transmission
technology, wind integration, and storage technologies are all likely in the near future. This
thesis draws on the current body of knowledge regarding several technological and economic
issues, but it is important to acknowledge that research is ongoing and new developments are
inevitable: the body of knowledge is still extremely limited in several areas. Additionally, little
of the research done about the impact of the social and political environment on technological
development and RES deployment discusses wind energy specifically: generally scholars who do
mention these factors in the context of RES merely state that it is a potential obstacle to further
development.
(2.2)Economic Aspects A number of factors influence the economics of developing wind installations including
the current electricity generation portfolio, relative costs per kWh, government support and
existing infrastructure, prices for oil and natural gas make wind energy more attractive, while
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abundant local supplies of inexpensive conventional resources, such as lignite coal, make it less
attractive. Wind energy will develop more rapidly if the EU greenhouse gas caps are strictly
enforced and the functionality of the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS),
functions smoothly. Energy demand within the EU depends on climate change regulation, the
growth rate of EU economies, consumption patterns, energy efficiency, and technology
development (Venetsanos, Angelopoulou, and Tsoutsos 2002). The level of energy demanded
influences the price that producers can charge for electricity, which contributes to the economic
feasibility of wind energy.
There are infrastructure costs associated with integrating wind-generated electricity into
an existing grid because this may require the construction of new transmission lines,
transformers, generating capacity and/or storage capacity (Georgilakis 2008). Analysis specific
to Greece suggests that the behavior of the market over the past 15 years indicates that without
the development of storage systems, further implementation of wind energy on the islands will
not occur (Kaldellis 2004). On the mainland, investing in strengthening the existing
transmission network could lower the associated costs of developing more wind installations
(Kaldellis 2004). Larger wind farms generally experience better economies of scale, making
them more profitable than smaller installations, assuming all other conditions are the same.
Academic economic research regarding RES in Greece has focused primarily on
assessing the economics of specific proposed plans, such as pumped storage plants or
interconnection with the mainland (Anagnostopoulos and Papantonis 2008; Hatziargyriou et al.
2007). Some academic research has looked at the overall situation in Greece, but much of this
work is dated and does not consider current feed-in tariffs and government support or the
deregulated electricity market (Kaldellis and Gavras 2000). Research and reports issued by
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government entities working on these issues tend to be more up-to-date and paint a broader
picture of the current economic environment for RES. International Energy Agency statistics
and annual reports by the Ministry of Development required under EU Directive 2001/77/EC,
provide a high-level overview of the economics, although they generally do not get into
theoretical assessments of the cost of future developments (Greek Ministry of Development and
Directorate General For Energy, Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate
2003a, 2003b, 2005, 2007; International Energy Agency 2006, 2008). The Regulatory Authority
on Energy (RAE) and the Public Power Corporation (PPC) also issue reports that include
information about both technical developments and economic conditions.6
(2.2.1) Deregulation Many countries have pursued at least partial deregulation of their electricity systems for
economic reasons. One goal of deregulation is to improve economic efficiency and reduce the
scope of the public sector (Iliadou 2009). The EU decided to pursue liberalization based on
comparisons between the liberalized markets in England, Wales, and several US states and
regulated markets of the European continent, which showed that deregulated markets were far
more cost-oriented than regulated markets (International Energy Agency 1998). A number of
theories regarding the impact of deregulation on markets and the behavior of firms exist. A
common one suggests as that institutional boundaries are redrawn, the scope of permissible
activities shifts, and incentives for behavior change (Bonardi 2004; Delmas and Tokat 2005). In
a regulated electricity sector, there is little incentive to innovate because regulators can declare
the costs associated with attempted innovation imprudent if the effort fails. Since utilities are
guaranteed a set rate of return on traditional activities, few are willing to be first movers in new
energy technologies (Delmas, Russo, and Montes-Sancho 2007). In a complete monopoly, this 6 The PPC is sometimes referred to as DEH (the Greek initials) in literature on the subject.
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means that innovation is extremely unlikely to occur because the firm faces potential government
penalties and has no competition whatsoever. Clearly, innovation is necessary in any industry
and countries should make an effort to encourage it within the energy sector, but there are also
benefits to regulation. For one, it is undesirable to encourage too much risk-taking and by
association volatility in a sector that is as essential to modern-day life as the electricity sector.
Academic and economists generally advocate for a greater openness to the energy market,
which encourages the development of private RES installations that allow system operators to
profit from the financial incentives provided by the government in exchange for taking on some
of the risks associated with the development of a relatively new field. One goal of deregulation is
to facilitate new entrants. Russo (2001) found that deregulation also resulted in the introduction
of new technologies into the utility industry. On an industry-wide level, deregulation increases
the welfare of consumers by decreasing costs and increasing levels of service (Winston 1998).
One theory proposes that deregulation results in differential strategies that allow utilities
to view ratepayers as distinct groups rather than an aggregated mass. Thus, deregulation will
create public goods as long as the participants are able to make strategic choices and demand
goods with public good consequences. After deregulation, the US energy industry pursued
numerous strategic choices and consumer demand for environmental stewardship increased.
These two factors caused green power generation to increase under deregulation, while the level
of citizen support for environmental sensitivity influenced the degree of increase. In other words,
in a deregulated electricity sector, utilities have the ability to respond to consumer demands more
easily. Since consumers are increasingly demanding renewable energy, producers are more
likely to supply it. Without consumer demand for renewable energy or some form of outside
intervention from government or elsewhere, utilities in a deregulated market would not be
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significantly more likely to pursue RES than utilities in a regulated market. Economically, it
makes no sense to pursue more expensive RES installations if there is no additional payoff for
pursuing them (Delmas, Russo, and Montes-Sancho 2007).
Private utilities are more able to take advantage of the economic benefits offered by
distributed generation than their public counterparts because they tend to have higher
transmission and distribution costs, but lower generation costs (Carley 2009).
Little consensus exists about the impact of deregulation on fuel sources and RES
development. One view is that it increases fossil fuel generation because large thermal plants are
less expensive than smaller distributed RES sources. Another view holds that deregulation
increases consumer choice, allowing for better product differentiation and more R&D funding
(Delmas, Russo, and Montes-Sancho 2007). Carley finds that deregulation encourages adoption
of DG by utilities rather than consumers (Carley 2009).
(2.2.2) Support Schemes: Feed-in Tariffs In the vast majority of situations, RES electricity is not cost-competitive with
conventional electricity. As a result, the widespread development of RES under current
conditions requires support schemes (Ringel 2006). The two most common promotion schemes
for RES in the European Union are feed-in tariffs, which are older, price-based, and more widely
used, and green certificates, which are newer, quantity-based and resemble renewable portfolio
standards in the United State. Since the conditions for RES vary dramatically across EU
countries and support needs to reflect local price and resource conditions, the EU is not pursuing
a harmonized support scheme. Instead, the individual countries are responsible for designing
their own support schemes. There is a large amount of debate about the merits of each system,
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but since Greece has opted to utilize a feed-in tariff rather than a green certificate program, this
thesis only addresses the former in depth.
The purpose of feed-in tariffs is to make RES, which are generally more expensive in the
short-run than conventional sources, economically viable. 7 The grid operator must purchase the
power from a RES generator at a price mandated by the government. The set price is higher than
the going-rate for conventional electricity in order to adequately compensate the generator for
the higher costs associated with RES, allowing them to make a profit; tariff levels usually vary
based on the type of energy purchased. Generally, the transmission system operator passes along
the cost of the feed-in tariff to final consumers. Under a regulated market, this does not pose a
problem because all consumers pay the same price for electricity. However, as liberalization
occurs, consumers are likely to opt for the lowest-cost supplier, which is generally the supplier
with the lowest share of RES generation. This puts grid operators in areas with high RES
penetration at an economic disadvantage. In Germany, this problem was resolved by creating a
national compensation scheme that distributed the costs associated with feed-in tariffs across all
transmission operators based on the annual national average feed-in of RES electricity (Ringel
2006). In Greece, relatively little liberalization has occurred among both generation and
transmission operators, so this is unlikely to be a major issue in the near future.
In general, feed-in tariffs encourage the rapid development of RES sources when they are
set at a sufficiently high level. However, predicting the exact quantity of RES generation that
will result from a feed-in tariff is difficult because the mechanism relies on price and not quantity.
If the tariff is not set appropriately, then either RES development proceeds more slowly than
hoped or RES producers secure windfall profits at the cost of consumers. Some EU countries are
7 Conventional energy sources are generally less expensive than RES because the price consumers pay does not take into consideration the cost of negative environmental effects and because the technologies used in the generation process are more mature than are those surrounding RES.
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also worried about the compatibility of feed-in tariffs and a common EU energy market (Ringel
2006). Again, this is less of a concern for Greece than for other EU countries because Greece is
geographically remote from other EU countries, making power sharing difficult.
(2.2.3) Carbon Pricing and Trading As a result of the Kyoto Protocol, carbon pricing and trading schemes have gained
prominence in recent years. In 2003, Directive 2003/87/EC established the European Union
Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS), setting the trial period from 2005-2007. The goal of EU-
ETS is to allow Member States to meet their CO2 reduction targets in a cost-effective manner.
The system covers several CO2-intensive industries, including power generation. Installations
covered under the system must surrender allowances equal to their verified emission; the total
number of allowances issued annually in each Member State is set through a National Allocation
Plan. Combustion, primarily for electricity generation and heating purposes, accounts for 70% of
EU allocations (Alberola, Chevallier, and Chèze).
RES installations can reduce the cost associated with purchasing CO2 certificates
through EU-ETS by decreasing the amount of electricity a member state generates using fossil
fuels. This increases the appeal of RES installations because it effectively raises the cost of
conventional electricity generation. Installing PV to replace hard coal and lignite power
production, allowed Germany to avoid an estimated cost of 0.076€/kWh because of reduced
emissions of CO2, NOx and SO2 have been estimated at (Lewis, Sharick, and Tian 2009). While
there are a number of factors that influence how efficiently EU-ETS operates, its mere existence
is extremely influential for RES development. Putting a price on carbon sends a signal to
investors and encourages the development of lower-carbon energy sources. Additionally, the
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fact that an EU Directive mandates participation in EU-ETS increases the incentive for
individual Member States to enact laws that comply with the system.
Outside consequences, however, do not appear to have successfully pushed Greece
towards participation in these systems. In May 2008, the United Nations removed Greece from
the emission trading system created by the Kyoto Protocol because the country had not met its
reporting obligations. After Greece ratified the Protocol, they outsourced responsibility for
generating compliance reports to the National Observatory of Athens. This contract expired in
April 2007 and the Greek government made no effort to ensure that reporting continued to occur.
In January 2008, after attempting to figure out who was responsible for the reports and receiving
evasive answers, the UN announced that it would refer Greece to the disciplinary committee
because the country was not using a reliable system to measure carbon emissions. Greece is the
first of the 141 signatories the UN has punished for failing to comply with the Kyoto Protocol
(Lialios 2008).
(2.3) Government Attitudes and Legislative Framework Greece, as an EU Member State had a certain level of obligation to meet the targets set
for RES penetration by Directive 2001/77/EC, despite the fact that the targets were technically
indicative, not mandatory. The International Energy Agency believes, and language in Greek
laws confirms, that EU directives have served as an incentive for the Greek Parliament to issue a
number of laws aimed at harmonizing Greek law with EU directives (Greek Ministry of
Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and Energy
Saving Directorate 2007; International Energy Agency 2006). As a result, Greek politicians are
under significantly more pressure to act than would have been the case if Greece were not a
member of the EU. However, the literature on the effect of EU membership on Greek action on
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climate change and related electricity issues is minimal, particularly with regard to literature
specifically about wind energy development.
The fact that the new Directive relies upon mandatory rather than voluntary targets
indicates that the European Parliament believes that outside pressure combined with penalties for
noncompliance is likely to be successful in promoting further and faster development of
renewables; Wiser et al. agree that voluntary targets provided insufficient incentives for action.
Challenges surrounding any top-down system include setting fair and achievable targets,
collecting reliable data, and considering local stakeholder positions. Some suggest that a clear
process for reporting and reviewing progress towards the targets, combined with appropriate
policy responses, is essential for success (Wiser et al. 2008).
(2.4) Social Aspects Scholars increasingly believe that social attitudes towards wind turbines on a local level
play a large role in determining the success of any particular wind installation. If the public does
not support an installation, the permitting and approval process can be significantly more costly
and drawn out, inhibiting the possibility of beginning or completing construction of the wind
farm. As such, it is necessary to assess prevailing attitudes towards the environment in general,
and wind turbines in particular in any area where development is under consideration. Negative
responses to wind turbines have been seen around the globe, leading to an increasing body of
literature addressing the “not in my backyard” phenomenon (NIMBYism). The proposed
development of a large offshore wind farm near Cape Cod, MA, United States represents one of
the most studied examples of opposition to wind farms, but similar situations have occurred
around the globe involving both land and offshore installations (Firestone and Kempton 2007).
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In an attempt to determine the causes of opposition to wind farms, scholars have
conducted several studies. Recurring themes are the visual-aesthetic impact of the installations,
concerns about the economic impact of the installations, and concern about the environmental
impact of the installations. In the case of Cape Cod, opposition focused on the fact that the
installation would be offshore: it was the first offshore installation proposed in the United States.
Using a large survey of local residents, Firestone and Kempton found that 24.6% supported the
project, 42.4% opposed it and 33% had not yet formed an opinion. When the direction undecided
respondents were leaning in was considered, 43.8% supported it, 55.5% opposed it and 0.7%
were still undecided. An overwhelming majority of the population believed negative impacts
would occur and could name specific impacts. Telling opponents that the project would result in
lower electricity rates, improved air quality, and job creation, would not harm marine life or the
fishing industry, and that Cape Cod would consume the power generated by the turbines
increased support for the project. Telling supporters that the installations would harm bird life
and be highly visible from the shore resulted in decreased support. Only 4% cited climate
change as a reason for supporting the installation and 41% believed widespread implementation
of wind farms would have no impact on stabilizing global climate change, showing the gap
between scientific literature and common knowledge. Supporters tended to be better educated,
younger and more likely to own their own home, while opponents were more likely to earn more
than $200,000 annually and to expect to see the installation during their daily routine. Support
rose by 36% overall if the project was framed as the first of 300 similar projects, showing the
importance of articulating a large-scale vision. Additionally, support rose if the local
government, as opposed to a private developer, built the installation. Firestone and Kempton
conclude that support for offshore wind is possible in the United States and that both better
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understanding of positive and negative environmental impacts and increased public control over
the development of wind installations would enhance it. Installations visible from the shoreline
can enjoy public support if the public is aware of impacts on marine and avian species and
someone articulates a vision for large-scale implementation (Firestone and Kempton 2007).
Zoellner, Schweizer-Ries, and Wemheuer examined the public acceptance of renewable
energy in Germany using both qualitative and quantitative survey tools and focusing on large-
scale photovoltaic (PV) installations. They found that the perceived positive economic impact of
an installation had the highest correlation with positive attitudes toward renewable energy.
However, the degree of knowledge surrounding the economic impact of the proposed
installations studied was very low: in other words, most people were not sure what the impact
would be, but if they thought the impact would be positive, they were likely to support the
installation. There was also a statistically significant correlation between the perceived fairness
of the process and acceptance levels. Surprisingly, perceived landscape changes did not reach
statistical significance in the sample, although it was the second best predictor of acceptance.
Based on these findings, they make several recommendations. First, plans should always
consider the perceived fairness of the process. Next, effort should be made to ensure that people
do not feel left out of the planning or decision-making processes. Interaction between the RES
developer and the community can increase support, as can the perceived support of local
authorities. Lastly, clear communication is essential to ensuring accurate understanding on the
part of all stakeholders (Zoellner, Schweizer-Ries, and Wemheuer 2008).
Wind turbine installation in Greece has increased rapidly in recent years and has been
concentrated in a few regions, rather than distributed evenly throughout the country. As a result,
there has been a serious reaction against the turbines in these areas on the part of the local
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population (Kaldellis 2005). Studies concerning local attitudes in areas with high wind energy
potential reveal acceptance of existing wind parks, but resistance to the construction of new ones.
In addition, the residents of the Greek islands are generally more amenable to wind installations
than the population on the mainland, despite the fact that one objection frequently raised about
wind turbines is the perceived impact on tourism, which is a major source of income for many
Greek islands. Kaldellis believes this is because islanders are more aware of the negative local
environmental effects of conventional generation, experience decreased quality of life due to
energy sources, and are more open-minded because of the type of jobs they hold and their
contact with foreigners than are their mainland counterparts. Unfortunately, there is a small
minority of the population that adamantly opposes wind turbine installations regardless of
potential economic benefits, representing a major hurdle to building future wind farms (Kaldellis
2005). Wind turbines do not always negatively impact tourism: in some parts of the globe, the
installation of wind turbines has actually improved tourism by allowing the area to promote itself
as a green tourism destination.
Discussion of forward movement in the realm of wind energy tends to focus on technical,
economic, and occasionally legislative solutions. Acknowledgement of the importance of social
acceptance is common, but proposals to increasing public acceptance of wind turbines in areas
where they currently meet with resistance are rare. Additionally, one of the few studies of social
attitudes toward wind turbines decided to exclude the island of Crete, where acceptance is
greater than 90% because the author did not believe such a situation does not represent an
interesting academic endeavor (Kaldellis 2005).
On the other hand, Michalena and Angeon decided to assess the social acceptability of
RES on Crete using an economic academic approach precisely because Crete is a success story.
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Their research concluded that both internal factors such as local acceptance and external factors
such as the macrostructure of an area play a role in the successful development of RES. The
more easily actors fit into the local atmosphere, the more likely it is that they will succeed in
developing shared goals and making collective decisions, both of which are essential to the
sustainable diffusion of RES technology. Social ties play a key role in the collection and
diffusion of information, which allows agents to implement RES projects. This view contradicts
the view often presented by literature on RES development, which tends to focus on the issues of
supply and demand for energy, rather than social or institutional factors. Michalena and
Angeon’s recognition of the importance of local context is representative of a growing trend.
Additionally, they emphasize the challenges surrounding data collection created by public
servants who are reluctant to participate in the data collection process and acknowledge that
there is a lack of scientific data surrounding RES in many locations; both create and indicate
problems extending beyond the social realm. Michalena and Angeon conclude that RES
technologies are likely to succeed when “social norms are embedded in a dense and cohesive
social network but are facilitated by a coordinating structure supported by a favorable legislative
context […] which recognizes the importance of the local municipality level” (Michalena and
Angeon 2009). Trust is an essential element to creating these conditions.
(2.5) Environmental Aspects The installation of wind turbines and the associated construction of transmission lines
generally have positive global environmental impacts through climate change mitigation and
reduction of pollution resulting from the combustion of conventional fuels, but slightly negative
local environmental impacts because of the potential for ecological degradation through
development. With mountaintop installations, minimizing erosion is a concern, and with all
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installations, the impact on local flora and fauna should be considered. Birds are particularly
vulnerable (Langston and Pullan 2004). As an EU country, Greece is obligated to comply with
the Bern Convention, which provides for the protection of migratory birds within EU boundaries.
Assessment of the local impact of any wind farm is an important element of determining its
viability; this is general achieved through the environmental permitting procedure. Substantial
documentation of the global benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by increasing RES
electricity generation has been produced, the most notably of which is from the Inter-
governmental Panel on Climate Change.
For the most part, both the European Union and Greece appear to have reached the tacit
conclusion that the benefits of a transition to RES generally outweigh the environmental impacts
of RES installations. As a result, the Greek government has attempted to expedite the
environmental permitting process, although local officials still have a voice during this part of
the process. Of course, it is still best to avoid environmentally sensitive areas and some level of
environmental impact assessment is necessary. However, the apparent consensus about the
importance of RES development renders extensive discussion of environmental impacts largely
irrelevant to the current technical and policy debate. Most literature refers to environmental
concerns only with respect to the permitting procedure; even government reports have little to
say on the matter. As a result, this paper excludes significant discussion of environmental
concerns: the author assumes that the benefits of any approved installation outweigh any
potential environmental degradation.
(2.6) Inter-disciplinary Works While a significant amount of research exists in the individual fields that relate to the
feasibility of implementing wind turbines in various settings, most analysis touches on only one
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field. Attempts to explore the interaction between fields generally limit themselves to assessing
the economic implications of technical or social challenges. There is little to no work that
assesses all relevant fields in order to determine which aspects present the greatest challenges to
wind power and which are most likely to encourage its implementation. Such overarching
analysis is vital to fully understanding the actions necessary for the successful development of
RES anywhere in the world. Zoellner, Schweizer-Ries, and Wemheuer recognize that integrated
strategies are required to implement RES on a large-scale: they believe consideration of human,
technological and environmental aspects and interactions is essential. As a result, they advocate
for a more process-oriented understanding of the field (Zoellner, Schweizer-Ries, and Wemheuer
2008). However, this approach has not been widely adopted.
Giatrakos, Tsoutsos, and Zografakis attempt to address some of the challenges associated
with integrating multiple factors into one assessment by using an accounting framework software
package known as LEAP. This technology allows them to combine the assessment of energy and
environmental scenarios and looks at the economics of various propositions, but social aspects
receive no attention (Giatrakos, Tsoutsos, and Zografakis 2009). Efforts of this sort are becoming
more frequent, as the importance of understanding the whole system surrounding RES
development becomes more apparent. However, a comprehensive modeling tool is extremely
difficult to design, especially because the field still lacks a full understanding of many of the
interactions between factors. As research in each individual field continues, integrated models
will improve as well.
Najam and Cleveland also recognize the importance of an integrated approach. They
suggest that energy issues and sustainable development can be understood through economic,
social, and environmental lenses. Conventional energy production stresses the environment at
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global and local levels, but energy is also associated with economic growth, which allows for
improved quality of life. This integrated view of the effects of energy production provides a
useful illustration of the complex interaction among the fields (Najam and Cleveland 2003).
Ministry of Development reports that include predictions of future scenarios based on
different courses of action represent a step towards interdisciplinary assessment, as do IEA
reports that include recommendations for continued forward movement in the country’s energy
sector: these reports typically address technical, economic, and legal concerns (Greek Ministry of
Development and Directorate General For Energy, Renewable Energy Sources and Energy
Saving Directorate 2003a, 2003b, 2005, 2007; International Energy Agency 2006). However,
social concerns, which are probably the most enigmatic, go largely unaddressed. Any truly
complete proposal or analysis of wind energy must include an assessment of all relevant fields,
rather than the few that are easiest to assess.
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(3) Methods Greece provides an interesting case study because it represents a diverse range of
geographic conditions within one set of legislation. The methodology used to assess the current
situation of wind energy was primarily qualitative and emphasized the importance of applying a
holistic approach to these issues. In the course of assembling this thesis, the author encountered
a number of challenges. As a result, this thesis has some limitations in terms of both the content
discussed within it and the general applicability of its findings on a global level.
(3.1) Selection of Greece and Regions The author chose Greece as the focus country for a number of reasons. Most importantly,
the country has several regions with high wind potential, allowing wind energy to compete
economically with conventional power sources more easily. The diverse geography of the
country means that different regions face very different challenges when it comes to
implementing wind power. However, since the same set of national laws covers all three regions,
it is possible to assess the effectiveness of specific regulations under different economic,
technical and geographic conditions. The presence of both a large interconnected grid and
autonomous grids of varying sizes allows for an assessment of the influence demand size and
grid infrastructure have on wind penetration. The conclusions drawn about the technical and
economic challenges to developing wind power in these varied settings can be applied on a
global scale to regions that share similar geographic and infrastructure characteristics. In essence,
Greece represents a wide variety of conditions related to wind energy in a microcosm. Because
the regions share similarities as well, the process of discerning which factors are most influential
is somewhat simpler than it would be in cross-country comparisons.
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Figure 2: Administrative Regions of Greece and Selected Cities
Greece has encountered a number of political and social deterrents to implementation:
analysis of these challenges provides knowledge about the human factors that influence the
installation of wind turbines. While political systems and national laws are the same across the
country, social attitudes tend to vary greatly, allowing for exploration of why such variation
exists within one country. Conclusions drawn about human interactions with wind power are less
easily generalized than those drawn about technical challenges because they rely on complex
interplay between social, political, economic, and cultural factors that is unlikely to be identical,
or even somewhat replicable, across a broad range of countries. However, there is a universal
value in studying specific incidences of how these factors influence the development of wind
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resources: methodology and general conclusions are applicable on a broader basis. For example,
it is possible to apply conclusions from Greece or the three regions to other regions with similar
energy portfolios worldwide: this provides a mechanism for predicting the influence of the
current energy portfolio on future developments. Since Greece is bound by EU regulations, it
also provides an example of how supra-national and intergovernmental organizations can
influence the development of renewable energy sources through both legislation and the creation
of carbon trading systems.
Lastly, the author’s personal experience in Greece played a role in the country’s selection.
She took a course entitled “Nature Conservation in Greece and the European Union” in Athens.
Lecture material touched on the degree of variation in environmental attitudes and actions across
EU countries: in general, Greeks scored much lower than did other EU citizens, yet their
renewables targets under Directive 2001/77/EC are among the highest in the EU. She observed
Greek patterns of energy use firsthand, noting that despite showing low levels of
environmentally motivated action, Greeks are significantly more sparing in their use of energy
than are Americans. The obvious explanation is that the lower income levels and higher energy
prices found in Greece drive conservation efforts and reduce consumption. However, the
differences seemed to go beyond simple economics, and involve core elements of the culture,
prompting a desire to explore the causes of these variations in greater depth. In addition, the
author sighted numerous wind installations during her travels in the country: the most notable of
was one location in the Peloponnese where three separate wind installations are visible. Another
intriguing factor was the contradictions between stated Greek opinions and beliefs about wind
turbines, the facts, and the author’s personal opinions about wind installations. The media tends
to portray islanders as extremely opposed to wind installations, which contradicts scholarly
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findings. Additionally, opposition from the islanders is illogical if one believes climate change
will result in sea level rise, since the islanders are among those who would be most affected if
sea levels rose. Lastly, many Greeks express the sentiment that wind turbines are a scar on the
landscape: perhaps it is simply a generational gap, or the effect of studying environmental issues,
but the author has always found turbines to be rather picturesque, in part because of what they
symbolize. Combined, these factors created a desire to delve further into the workings of the
Greek electricity sector.
The study is broken down into three regional studies: (1) the Cycladic Islands – a group
of small islands primarily powered by autonomous systems; (2) Crete, the largest autonomous
power system in Greece; and (3) the interconnected system, composed of the mainland, the large
island of Euboea, and a handful of small islands near the coastline of the mainland (Figure 1).
These three diverse locations allow for the study of the deployment of RES under various
combinations of influencing factors, which means judgments can be made about what constitutes
a favorable context for the development of wind energy. Since many places around the globe
replicate the geography of the three regions, some conclusions are applicable to other parts of the
world with similar conditions. While some factors are the same across two or all of the regions,
others vary in each region. By breaking the country down into three regions, analysis of the
challenges on a national and regional level is possible, allowing for a more accurate assessment
of the current situation. The regional study method allows for an in-depth holistic analysis of the
situation in each region, incorporating historic, technical, economic, and social factors, while a
countrywide assessment allows for the exploration of common factors such as entities in the
energy sector, the national legislative and regulatory framework, and EU obligations. The goal
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of this analysis is to provide an assessment of the path forward for Greece; it should also be
generally applicable to other countries or regions with similar characteristics.
The regional studies do not follow the format used in most prior academic work in the
field of selecting a potential solution for an area and assessing its feasibility. Instead, the first
step is an exploration of the current conditions in the region from multiple facets. Next, the
Findings section (Section 5) presents a summary of the overall challenges facing the region and
presents a variety of potential solutions based on these findings. The end result is an assessment
of the primary constraints to further development of wind energy in Greece and
recommendations about the best methods for circumventing or removing these constraints. The
assumption is made that under current conditions Greece will not be able to reach its targets for
2010, a conclusion which is supported by both scholarly research, Greek government documents
and EU documents (Directive …/2009/EC; Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General
for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007). Thus, this
paper focuses on identifying the challenges that prevented Greece from meeting the 2010 targets
and suggesting methods of resolving these challenges so Greece will succeed in meeting the
2020 targets.
(3.2) Rationale for a Holistic Approach Existing research tends to focus either on only one aspect of wind energy, or on the
correlation between two aspects, such as economic benefits and social opinion or technical
challenges and economic competitiveness. However, in order to fully comprehend the
challenges and potential benefits of implementing wind power in the three regions,
interdisciplinary analysis is necessary. Energy issues are generally resolved through a
combination of economic, social, technical, and political pressures. In addition, most of these
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factors interact with one another: for example, geography influences the energy portfolio of each
region, which influences the economic viability of wind energy relative to current energy sources,
which influences the social attitudes toward wind installations. This is just one example of the
many possible interactions between the variables assessed in this study. Any plan for continued
movement towards RES targets must address all of these issues adequately in order to be
successful. Thus, the selection of a holistic methodology represents an attempt to fill a hole in the
existing body of literature by tying together multiple facets of the energy world into one cohesive
analysis rather than several disparate assessments.
(3.3) Description of the Regions The three regions chosen share some common characteristics. All are subject to the same
European Union policies and can potentially participate in the EU emissions trading system (EU-
ETS). Additionally, they are all subject to national law, and national political attitudes toward
wind energy influence the ease of installing turbines across the country. Also, the state-owned
monopolistic Public Power Corporation (PPC) is important in all regions since it is the primary
electricity supplier for the country. The same is true for the Regulatory Authority for Energy
(RAE), which oversees regulation of energy markets across the country as well as issuing
recommendations regarding the current state of the energy market and future actions. Because
legal frameworks are the same in all regions, legally mandated feed-in tariffs and government
subsidies are relatively constant across the regions, although the latest legislation makes some
distinctions about the level of assistance RES installations can receive based on their geographic
location (Table 1).
Table 1: Regional Characteristics of Cycladic Islands, Crete, and Mainland Greece Cycladic Islands Crete Mainland Greece Primary Power Sources Oil-based fuels Fuel oil; diesel; natural
gas Lignite coal
Feed-in Tariffs Yes Yes Yes
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Significant season peaks Yes Yes No Rejection constraining further penetration
Yes Yes No
Population (2001) 119,500 over several islands
630,000 9,641,200
(3.3.1) Cycladic Islands Relatively low demand and a high degree of isolation characterize the Cycladic Islands.
They are not fully connected to the national grid or each other, although some interconnection
does exist. The islands currently obtain most of their electricity from imported oil in the form of
diesel or fuel oil, so the cost of oil is a very influential factor. The economies of most islands
rely primarily on tourism, so maintaining that source of income is very important. Despite
concerns about potential negative impacts of wind turbines on the tourism industry, research
shows that attitudes toward wind installations are more positive on the islands than the mainland
(Kaldellis 2005). Transmission is only a minor issue, as wind installations would be located very
close to the site of consumption, but technical limits to the amount of wind energy the grids on
these islands can absorb are extremely important. Siting concerns involve a number of factors,
including deciding whether to implement on or offshore turbines,8 conflicting land-use values,
proximity to transmission capacity, wind potential, and proximity to tourist sites, particularly
ancient monuments. Potential barriers include technical limits to grid penetration and the
necessity of reserve capacity: the small nature of these electricity systems means that these
concerns are particularly salient. Storage technologies, among others, offer work-around
solutions to the capacity issue and may have additional benefits.
Most of the unique attributes of the Cycladic Islands stem from the following factors: (1)
they are small isolated grids that often rely on only one power plant; (2) demand on the islands
has increased dramatically in recent years; (3) demand varies greatly on a seasonal basis because
8 To date, Greece does not have any off-shore wind farms.
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of participation in the tourism industry; and (4) the current primary source of electricity
generation is oil.
(3.3.2) Crete Crete faces a different set of challenges. The larger area, a fairly well designed island-
wide grid and higher levels of demands allows for greater integration of intermittent energy
sources such as wind in terms of absolute capacity than is possible on the Cycladic Islands. The
percentage of power that the island can obtained from wind energy on an annual basis is
relatively constant across all regions because of the current technical constraints, although
geographic diversity can increase wise levels of penetration: this gives larger grids an advantage
over smaller ones. Concerns about on-shore versus offshore siting remain an issue. Storage
solutions are also likely to be necessary for continued increases in RES penetration on Crete.
Transmission issues are not particularly relevant on Crete, as the current grid infrastructure is
relatively well designed. The larger area allows for the minimization of potential visual impact
on tourist sites. The current energy generation composition remains relevant. Crete represents a
fairly successful example of RES development, particularly for wind energy: the island has some
of the highest penetration levels in the country and social acceptance of both new and existing
wind turbines is extremely high. Thus, the social aspects of Crete are particularly intriguing.
Crete has also experienced a very rapid increase in electricity demand, reaching an annual
increase of about 8% in recent years.
Crete’s unique attributes relate to: (1) its position as the largest autonomous system in
Greece; (2) a well-designed grid that requires little change to achieve the incorporation of RES;
(3) high existing levels of RES penetration; (4) rapid increase in power demand and (5) strong
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social support for wind energy and RES. For reasons that are not apparent, economic data for
Crete are particularly difficult to obtain.
(3.3.3) Interconnected Greece (Mainland) The primary characteristics of interconnected, or mainland, Greece are an abundance of
lignite coal resources and its transmission grid. This system serves the majority of Greece’s
population and accounts for the bulk of electricity demand. Electricity demand has grown over
the past 25 years, although the growth rate is beginning to slow. Public opinion on the mainland
is generally more negative than on the islands because existing installations went up rapidly on a
large scale in a small number of locations (Kaldellis 2005). As a result, siting must take into
consideration the geography of the region and wind potentials, as well as public perceptions.
The existence of abundant lignite coal that the state-owned PPC can buy at low prices from the
state-owned mining companies means that making wind energy economically competitive is
likely to be difficult. However, larger wind installations are possible on the mainland than on
Crete or the Cycladic Islands: this allows producers to achieve higher economies of scale. New
transmission lines will likely be needed in order to connect sites with high wind potential to the
existing grid, and the state of the current grid must be evaluated to determine how easily
intermittent RES can be integrated. Storage technologies are not currently significant issues on
the mainland because market penetration of RES is still well below the currently possible levels
of 20-30%. However, storage will play an important role in the long-run.
The defining factors of the mainland regional study are: (1) a large transmission system
with high level of peak demand and less seasonal variation than the islands; (2) abundant lignite
coal supplies which ensure a steady supply of relatively inexpensive electricity; (3) fairly low
levels of wind penetration; and (4) extreme social resistance to wind installations in many
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regions with the highest wind potentials. Penetration constraints are a concern only in terms of
local grid constraints near wind installations: the system as a whole is nowhere near saturation.
(3.4) Data Sources The analysis used is almost exclusively qualitative, with the exception of quantitative
comparisons of economic costs of various energy sources, and of levels of demand, energy
system capacity, and RES penetration across regions. The emphasis on qualitative assessment
over quantitative comparison stems from a desire to address multiple aspects of the issue, many
of which do not readily lend themselves to quantitative comparison: this concern applies most
directly to social and political aspects, but issues with data standardization across regions also
make it difficult to compare technical and economic matters quantitatively. The analysis involves
synthesizing existing data, which only addresses one topic, in order to create an overarching
assessment situation. EU and Greek laws and proposals, as well as associated government
reports, are key primary sources. They are particularly relevant for assessing political pressures
and the motivation for politicians to advocate for or against new wind installations. The author
used secondary academic sources on aspects of wind power unique to Greece to investigate
social attitudes, technical challenges and economic competitiveness to the siting of turbines.
Some public opinion data come from generalized sources, but because of cultural influences,
sources specifically focused on Greece were given greater weight. The author used a global body
of literature to assess general technical issues, such as determining ideal sites for turbines,
maximizing efficiency, and connecting to a transmission system. Economic pressures and the
influence of the current energy composition were assessed primarily based on Greece- or EU-
specific literature, although some general literature was used when looking at the economic costs
of proposed technical solutions to RES penetration.
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(3.5) Challenges and Limitations Based on these data sources, the largest challenges were determining which elements of
general documents were relevant to Greece and integrating the various factors addressed into a
cohesive analysis. In addition, the regional study methodology means that the conclusions
drawn in this study may not be directly applicable to situations in other locations because no two
regions are identical. The global energy landscape is changing rapidly, making up-to-date
analysis difficult, especially because quantitative data sets are often dated. Additionally, data sets
are not always broken down along regional lines, making it difficult to accurately characterize
the energy portfolio of the regions. Often, there is no standardization across regions of the years
for which regional data sets are available. Relative cost analysis is also difficult, particularly in
the island context, given the extreme fluctuations in the price of oil in 2008. While this thesis
addresses the influence of concerns about declined tourism, it does not include an assessment of
the actual impact of turbines on tourism.
While in Greece, the author struggled to create connections with those influential in
implementing wind power. The relatively laidback culture meant that the best efforts of the
author were insufficient to succeed in making contacts and arranging meetings with influential
players in the field within the limited time available. In addition, the language barrier and limited
meaningful interaction with the Greek population prevented representative surveying of social
attitudes towards renewable energy. Information obtained was limited to informal one-one-one
conversations with educated staff members of the study abroad program of an American
university. Many non-EU data sources are available only in Greek, or have a more limited
selection of data in English, making some of the social and technical analysis less than complete.
Many potentially useful documents were available only in Greek, forcing the author to rely on
the interpretations presented by others in English pieces as opposed to a first-hand assessment of
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the implications. However, an extremely basic knowledge of the Greek language did prove
helpful in interpreting maps and the understanding of Greek culture and geography gained while
abroad was extremely useful throughout the research process.
Lastly, the decision to organize this paper into topical subsections while pursuing an
interdisciplinary analysis often made it difficult to determine which category was the best fit for
a piece of information. The author’s best judgment and scholarly convention were used to
resolve these questions, but there are several pieces of data that could have easily been placed in
different sections. For example, the author generally categorized laws that set up the economic
support framework under the legislative and government section, but the economics sections also
touched upon these laws. As a result, there is some repetition across sections. The difficulty of
determining the appropriate category for some pieces of information illustrates the challenges
surrounding an attempt to analyze just one aspect of wind energy and emphasize the importance
of interdisciplinary approaches in truly understanding the field.
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(4) National and Regional Studies This section opens with an assessment of countrywide factors to establish an
understanding of the overall situation in Greece. It addresses both intra- and inter-national
influences. After establishing the basic facts and introducing the main government-related
players, it presents regional studies of the Cycladic Islands, Crete, and interconnected Greece.
Each regional study examines energy demand, current energy sources, wind potential, economic
factors, and social and political factors.
(4.1) National Study – Countrywide Factors A number of factors will influence how Greece decides to meet its EU targets: this
section examines the factors that are constant across the country, although the regional impact
may vary some because of interactions with factors that differ across the regions. These
countrywide factors stem primarily from the legal and bureaucratic framework of the country.
European Union membership and legislation has been a significant driving force in the
development of RES, particularly wind energy, in Greece. Additionally, the Greek government
and associated legislation is responsible for the laws governing the development of RES: these
do not vary based on regions, although some regional variation in tariffs and subsidies for new
RES constructions does exist. The Public Power Corporation (PPC), the Hellenic Transmission
Systems Operator (DESMIE), the Ministry for Development, the Regulatory Authority for
Energy (RAE), and the Centre for Renewable Energy Studies (CRES) are the main players in the
Greek energy industry. The PPC serves as the primary generator, while DESMIE serving as the
operator of the interconnected grid. The Ministry of Development is responsible for issuing
permits for the development of the energy system, while RAE is an independent administrative
body responsible for issuing recommendations to the Ministry of Development regarding the
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issue of permits and other regulatory affairs. CRES works on technical challenges surrounding
RES development and assists RAE in assessing technical components of proposed
recommendations.
(4.1.1) Basics about Greece Greece is home to approximately 11 million people. The population is predominantly
located in urban areas: approximately 35.5% lives in or around Athens. The two primary load
centers are Athens and Thessaloniki, the two largest cities in the country. Greece has over 2,000
islands that receive their power from about 35 small autonomous electricity grids. Some grids
serve multiple islands, and not all islands are inhabited or electrified on a commercial scale.
Electricity load on non-interconnected islands accounts for about 8% of the country’s total
electricity demand (Iliadou 2009).
Currently, lignite coal is Greece’s primary fuel for electricity generation. In 2007,
estimates predicted that Greece would burn 70 million tons of lignite coal, generating 50.5% of
the total energy consumed (Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and
Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007). Imported oil, used mainly on
non-interconnected islands accounted for 13%, imported natural gas accounted for 22.5%, large-
scale hydroelectric plants produced 4.8%,9 all other RES produced 3.6%, and the remaining
5.6% was net imports (Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and
Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007). These numbers reflect the
relatively newness of initiatives promoting RES in Greece and the abundance of inexpensive, but
highly polluting lignite.
9 Annual hydroelectric generation numbers vary based on weather patterns and rainfall in a given year. In 2007, production was only expected to reach 3 TWh, while in 2006 it exceeded 6 TWh. The annual average is 4.16 TWh (Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007).
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Lignite has a relatively low-energy density for a fossil fuel and emits more particulate air
pollution and carbon dioxide per kWh than other forms of coal. Because of the high weight to
energy generated ratio and the cost of mining the coal, it is economically impractical to transport
and is primarily used in steam-based electric plants near the point of excavation (Geography in
Action 2008). Greece is the second largest producer of lignite in the EU and the sixth largest in
the world (Kaldellis, Zafirakis, and Kondili 2009). The large deposits found within Greece and
the fact that the government allowed the state-owned Public Power Corporation (PPC) almost
exclusive access to the fuel at very low prices means there was little financial incentive for PPC
to explore alternative fuels on its own (Associated Press 2005). Since PPC owns and operates
90% of Greece’s generating capacity, their decisions heavily influence Greece’s overall energy
portfolio (Hellenic Wind Energy Association 2008). However, a recent EU ruling found that the
arrangement between the state-owned mines and PPC violated anti-trust laws, and stated that the
government must “allow rival power companies access to at least 40 percent of available lignite
resources from the state, which controls nearly all the abundant deposits” (Associated Press
2005). Numerous scholars have explored the reasons behind lignite’s prominence in the Greek
electricity sector and the positive and negative consequences of high levels of lignite-based
generation. Despite the well-documented negative local environmental and health impacts of
lignite combustion, there are a number of convincing reasons for continuing to use lignite as a
power source in Greece. The supply chain is entirely domestic, increasing energy security and
providing numerous jobs to Greeks. Additionally, the abundant supply extracted by state-owned
companies provides price stability to consumers (Kaldellis, Zafirakis, and Kondili 2009).
The liberalization of the electricity market, which Greece pursued because of multiple
EU Directives, and the creation of several new entities in the Greek energy industry have
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significantly altered the regulatory climate in recent years. The process of liberalization has
moved haltingly since 1999, but it is possible to identify barriers, progress has begun to be made,
and the future of wind power utilization in Greece is promising (Papadopoulos, Glinou, and
Papachristos 2008). Greece greatly increased the competitiveness of the mainland energy market
by separating generation of power from operation of the transmission grid and by creating a
more welcoming environment for private investment. The establishment of the Regulatory
Authority on Energy (RAE), an independent energy advisory body, led to greater technical
competence in the government and a more objective decision-making structure (Greek Ministry
of Development and Directorate General for Energy, Renewable Energy Sources and Energy
Saving Directorate 2003a, 2003b, 2005, 2007). However, PPC remains under state control and
holds a dominant position in both generation and supply markets. Some claim that regulated
energy prices in Greece are lower than power generation costs: if this is true, then new entrants
are at a disadvantage. PPC serves more than 98% of Greek consumers and only two new non-
RES independent power producers exist: both operate natural gas plants on the mainland (Iliadou
2009).
(4.1.2) Role of the European Union Until late 2008, Directive 2001/77/EC “on the promotion of electricity produced from
renewable energy sources in the internal electricity market” was the primary legal factor pushing
Greece toward RES development. It requires EU Member States to “take appropriate steps to
encourage greater consumption of electricity produced from renewable energy sources in
conformity with the national indicative targets […]. These steps must be in proportion to the
objective to be obtained” (European Parliament and The Council 2001). RES generation
includes large-scale hydroelectric plants and new renewables, such as wind, solar, small hydro,
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geothermal, and biomass. The targets are based upon values presented in the Annex of the
Directive, which reflect each country’s energy portfolio and RES potential; they must comply
with any national commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, but the targets themselves are
indicative rather than mandatory. Member States must publish reports every two years analyzing
their success in meeting the indicative targets, and taking into account the extent to which actions
take are consistent with national climate change commitments. Based on these reports, the
Commission evaluates progress Member States have made toward their targets and whether
national indicative targets are consistent with the global and Community targets for 2010 of
having RES account for 12% of gross national energy consumption on a global level and 22.1%
of total Community electricity consumption. (European Parliament and The Council 2001).10
These numbers vary significantly because the global target focuses on total energy consumption,
which includes electricity, transportation and heating, while the European Union target
referenced in this Directive includes only electricity consumption.
The Directive specifies that Greece must generate 20.1% of its electricity from RES by
2010. This percentage should result in compliance with commitments to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions made under the Kyoto Protocol. However, some uncertainty exists about whether the
two will actually correlate because the EU targets focus on percentage of energy from RES,
while the Kyoto Protocol targets focus on tons of GHG emitted. The EU targets under Directive
2001/77/EC are not compulsory, but there are potential consequences if a Member State fails to
exhibit substantial progress toward its target. If the Commission concludes that “the national
indicative targets are likely inconsistent, for reasons that are unjustified and/or do not relate to
new scientific evidence, with the global indicative targets, [the Commission’s proposal to the
10 The EU lowered the target to 21% by 2010 as new Member-States joined the EU and newly discovered obstacles led to lower national targets.
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European Parliament] shall address national targets, including possible mandatory targets, in the
appropriate form” (European Parliament and The Council 2001).
A report generated by the Greek Ministry of Development, as required by Article 3 of
Directive 2001/77/EC, says Greece must have wind farms amounting to an installed capacity of
3,648 megawatts (MW), which produce a total of 7.67 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2010 to meet the
target. Total Greek RES production will be 14.45 TWh from 7,653 MW of capacity. The
relationship between installed capacity and TWh is not linear: variations in weather patterns
influence the amount of energy ultimately generated by RES. Predictions show wind farms
comprising 47.7% of Greece’s installed RES capacity and 53% of its RES generation (Greek
Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and
Energy Saving Directorate 2007). As of 2006, Greece had 683 MW of installed new renewable
capacity,11 522 MW of which were connected to the main grid (interconnected); wind accounts
for 85% of this capacity. Greece has issued installation permits for an additional 1000 MW of
new renewables, of which 87% are wind: construction has begun on about 20% of these permits
(International Energy Agency 2006).
Table 2: RES Production, Targets and Progress for EU-25 RES TWh 1997 RES % 1997 RES % Target 2010 RES % Normalized
2004/2005 Austria 39.05 70.0 78.1 57.5 Belgium 0.86 1.1 6.0 1.9 Cyprus 0 6 0.0 Czech Republic 3.8 8 4.0 Denmark 3.21 8.7 29.0 27.3 Estonia 0.2 5.1 0.7 Finland 19.03 24.7 31.5 25.4 France 66.00 15.0 21.0 14.2 Germany 24.91 4.5 12.5 10.8 Greece 3.94 8.6 20.1 7.7 Hungary 0.7 4.4 4.0 Ireland 0.84 3.6 13.2 8.0 Italy 46.46 16.0 25.0 16.0 Latvia 42.4 49.3 43.9
11 New renewables exclude large-scale hydro production.
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Lithuania 3.3 7 3.3 Luxembourg 0.14 2.1 5.7 4.0 Malta 0.0 5 0.0 Netherlands 3.45 3.5 9.0 6.5 Poland 1.6 7.5 3.2 Portugal 14.30 38.5 39.0 28.8 Slovak Republic 17.9 31 14.9 Slovenia 29.9 33.6 29.4 Spain 37.15 19.9 29.4 21.6 Sweden 72.03 49.1 55.2 52.0 United Kingdom 7.04 1.7 10.0 4.2 EU-25 12.9 21.0 14.5
Sources: Commission of the European Community; Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007 RES TWh 1997 numbers are not available for countries that were not EU Member States when Directive 2001/77/EC was passed.
Neither Greece nor the EU as a whole is on-track to meet these goals: it appears that the
Community will reach a 19% share of electricity from RES, rather than 21% and as of 2008,
Greece’s installed RES capacity was only 17% of the amount it would need to meet its target
(Figure 3) (Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable
Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007; Wiser et al. 2008). At the same time, the
effects associated with climate change are becoming more visible, creating increased urgency
around action to mitigate GHG emissions. As a result, the EU released a Renewable Energy
Roadmap in January 2007(European Parliament 2008; Michalena and Angeon 2009). In March
2007, EU member countries agreed to adopt a binding target of 20% renewable energy use in the
electricity, heat, and transportation sectors. They released a proposed draft of the EU Renewable
Energy Directive in January 2008 and the European Parliament approved it on December 17,
2008. The Directive creates legally binding targets for 20% reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions, 20% share of renewable energy, and 20% improvement in energy efficiency by 2020,
as well as requiring a 10% share of renewable energy in the transportation sector (European
Energy Forum 2008; European Parliament 2008). Member countries must create and submit
National Allocation Plans using a harmonized reporting template and describing how they will
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meet their individual targets by June 2010. The EU will theoretically penalize countries that fail
to meet the final targets. However, the Directive does not actually lay out any specific
consequences for failure to meet a target: the Commission can propose corrective action, but
there is no provision for enforcement (European Parliament 2008).
Figure 3: Greek Share of RES Source: Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007
The EU based the calculation used to set the overall targets for each Member Country on
a flat-rate increase in renewable share, but also took into account GDP per capita and early
progress toward renewable development, defined as an increase of 2% of total share between
2001 and 2005; an overall cap of 50% share of RES is also included. This adjusted approach
attempts to spread responsibility, take advantage of the lower cost installations sites that are
likely to still be available in late-moving countries and distribute the cost associated with
developing RES in a manner proportionate to national wealth per capita (European Parliament
2008; Wiser et al. 2008). The intent of mandatory targets is to provide investors with greater
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certainty and encourage continued development of RES technologies (European Parliament
2008).
Greece has drawn funding from the European Union for the development of RES
installations under both the 2nd and 3rd Community Support Framework. Under the 2nd
Community Support Framework, the Operational Programme for Energy (OPE), managed by the
Ministry of Development, drew €1.061 billion in order to grant public aid to RES projects. They
invested a total of €141.6 million in 16 wind projects and developed 121 MW of installed
capacity that generate 354 GWh of electricity annually. The European Regional Development
Fund provided 33.8% of funding, national resources including PPC funds comprised 45.2% and
private capital flows accounted for the remaining 21% (Greek Ministry of Development and
Directorate General for Energy, Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate
2003). Under the 3rd Community Support Framework, the Operational Programme
“Competitiveness” (OPC) provided public funding for RES, energy savings, substitution and
other energy-related actions. The total budget for wind energy was €549.59 million for 51 wind
projects; the program created 554.69 MW of installed capacity and annual electricity production
of 1,392.3 GWh. Public expenditure under the 3rd Framework totaled €175.4 million (Greek
Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and
Energy Saving Directorate 2007).
Moving forward, the new Directive will be the most relevant piece of EU legislation.
However, because it passed so recently, few pieces of scholarly work address it. Further
research will improve our understanding of the impact of the Directive. Additionally, EU
funding plays an important role in encouraging RES development in Greece.
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(4.1.3) Greek Government and Legislative Framework The national Greek government plays an essential role in determining the rate at and
manner in which wind energy is developed. Most of the Greek legislative framework focuses on
simplifying the permitting procedure and providing RES generators with economic support.
Without meaningful government support, the process of building a wind farm slows dramatically
due to bureaucratic delays. Up until a few years ago, Greece struggled enormously with its
bureaucracy: therefore, as of 2005, construction had begun on only 13 % of plants that had
received some sort of license (International Energy Agency 2006). However, in the past few
years the country has made significant efforts to streamline the permitting procedure by
concentrating decision-making power in a few groups and imposing strict deadlines on response
times (Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy
Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007). Greece also revised economic support schemes to
provide diversified feed-in tariffs determined by the type and location of the RES installation.
Such efforts give the government more flexibility to encourage certain forms of RES that it feels
are lagging, and to its expenditures on technologies that are close to being economically viable
without government support.
Under the current legal framework, Greece provides RES generators with feed-in tariffs,
subsidies for construction or a tax reduction, and guaranteed connection to the transmission
system. The feed-in tariffs, subsidies, and tax reductions relate to the promotion of renewable
energy sources and are legislated by Law Nr. 3468/2006 Generation of Electricity Using
Renewable Energy Sources and High-Efficiency Cogeneration of Electricity and Heat (Law Nr.
3468/2006). Grid connection is subject to more complex regulation, including Law Nr.
3468/2006, the Grid Control and Power Exchange Code (NC), Decision Nr. 1442/2006 Form
and content of electric power purchase contracts (PPAs) for the supply of electric power into the
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system (V 1442/2006), and Decision Nr. 2000/2002 Procedure for issuing installation and
operating permits of power generation plants using renewable energy sources (V 2000/2002)
(German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety 2008).
These new regulations further the efforts initiated by Law 2244/94 on renewables, Law 2773/99
on local electric market deregulation, and Law 2601/98 on development. Additionally, the
Ministry of Development’s “Energy Operation or the Competitiveness Program,” funded by the
EU’s 3rd Community Support Framework, assists in subsidizing private investment in wind
energy (Kaldellis 2005).
(4.1.4) National Economic Factors The Greek government has come up with three levels of economic incentives for the
development of RES: direct subsidy of installation costs, tax breaks, and a feed-in tariff.
Investors must choose between the first two, which the Greek government funds through its
budget, whereas all RES installations benefit from the feed-in tariff, which the grid operator, and
by extension consumers, fund.
Law 3468/2006 provides for feed-in tariffs to encourage the development of RES by
public or private investors in Greece. The level of the feed-in tariff varies based on the energy
source and whether the installation connects to Greece’s primary grid (Table 3). The grid
operator – DESMIE for interconnected sites and small-scale local operators or PPC for isolated
islands – bears the cost of these tariffs. The laws do not specify a regulatory framework for
passing the costs on to consumers. The feed-in tariff for wind is from 7.3-9 €cts/kWh, with
geothermal, biomass, landfill/sewage gas, biogas, and hydro receiving similar tariff levels. Feed-
in tariffs for solar energy are significantly higher – 40.282-50.282 €cts/kWh for photovoltaics
and 25-27 €cts/kWh for non-photovoltaic solar. Contracts are for 10 years, with the option to
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extend for another 10 years based on a unilateral decision by the producer. The system operators
(power generators) for all non-solar energy sources covered by the law pay 3% of their net
proceeds to the grid operator, who in turn gives 80% of this money to local administrative bodies
in the region where the system is located and 20% to local administrative bodies in the region
that transmission lines pass through. Greek law designates this money for use in development
programs in the area and local authorities must provide documentation of how they have spent it
upon request (Parliament of the Hellenic Republic 2006).
Feed-in Tariff (€/MWh) Electricity generation method Interconnected System Non-interconnected
Islands Wind energy, hydraulic energy up to 15 MW, geothermal energy, biomass, gasses released from sanitary landfills and biological treatment plants, miscellaneous RES, high-efficiency cogeneration of heat and electricity
75.82 87.42
Wind energy from sea farms 92.82 Solar energy using PV units with installed capacity less than 100 kW that are installed on lawfully owned or possessed property or in adjacent properties of the same owner or lawful possessor
452.82 502.82
Solar energy using PV units with an installed capacity over 100 kW 402.82 452.82
Solar energy using non-PV technology with an installed capacity up to 5 MW 252.82 272.82
Solar energy using non-PV technology with an installed capacity over 5 MW 232.82 252.82
Table 3: Greek Feed-in Tariffs Source: Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007
Given the extremely high wind potential found in some regions in Greece, some
speculation exists about the necessity and economic efficiency of national feed-in tariffs. For
example, Hatziargyriou et al. calculate the production cost of wind energy on the Cycladic
Islands at a maximum of 65 €/MWh (6.5€cts/kWh), with 84% of production sites having
production costs below 5€cts/kWh. They make no mention of feed-in tariffs in the paper and
conclude that wind parks such as these are economically attractive even without government
subsidies for construction because RES production costs are highly competitive with costs for
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the conventional sources they would replace on the islands (Hatziargyriou et al. 2007). Similar
cost breakdowns may exist in other regions of the country; speculation to this effect has led to a
push to reevaluate the level of subsidy provided to RES investors through feed-in tariffs and
ensure that the feed-in tariffs are economically justifiable. If investment would occur even
without a feed-in tariff, Greece should consider the level and timeframe of the tariff, and if a
tariff is necessary at all. The government and power companies cannot amend existing contracts,
but future contracts should reflect the true economic situation, which is rapidly changing as
technologies evolve.
Law Nr. 3468/2006 also provides for a subsidy for the construction of RES systems.
Alternatively, systems operators can chose to forgo the subsidy and instead receive a tax
reduction. The federal budget accounts for cost of both programs (Parliament of the Hellenic
Republic 2006).
Grid connection is necessary for all new power plants regardless of whether they use
renewable or conventional energy sources. However, RES installations tend to face more
limitations in terms of location because they depend on the availability of natural resources such
as wind or solar radiation. As a result, Greek law includes provisions to ensure that RES system
operators are able to connect to the existing grid without undue hassle. Plant operators who hold
a generating license from the Ministry of Development are contractually entitled to both grid
connection and grid expansion if it is necessary to handle the connection of the new plant. RAE
must approve all generating licenses; they are good for 25 years, with the option of extending for
another 25 years. Connection takes place at the point deemed most economically and technically
feasible: the grid operator bears the cost of extending the grid to that point and the system
operator bearing the cost of connecting the plant to that point, as well as the cost of metering
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devices to record the amount of power fed into and received from the grid. The grid operator
uses the net feed-in recorded by the meter to determine the amount paid to the systems operator
based on the feed-in tariff specified by Law Nr. 3468/2006. The grid operator can pass some of
its costs from expanding the grid on to customers through a grid usage fee; RES generators are
exempt from this fee. In connection plans, the grid operator must give priority to RES generators
unless connecting them to the grid will pose a threat to network security. This ensures that a
market is available to RES generators without allowing excessive penetration of intermittent
sources to threaten the stability of the network as a whole (German Federal Ministry for the
Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety 2008).
The Ministry of National Economy, now known as the Ministry of Economy and Finance,
provides funding under Law 1892/1990 “Modernization and development and other provisions”
and Law 2601/1998 “Private investment aids for the country’s economic and regional
development and other provisions.” The Ministry of Development estimates that national
resources funded approximately one-third of RES plants in operation as of October 2007 (Greek
Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and
Energy Saving Directorate 2007).
The Greek government has made a policy decision to ensure that consumer prices are
equal across the whole country. This decision seems to relate to the historical view that
electricity is a public service that the government must provide continuously to all citizens at a
reasonable price. As a result, mainland residents tend to pay more for their power than they
would under free market conditions, while island residents pay less. The decision to standardize
prices removes some of the economic incentives for new companies to enter the market because
prices charged by PPC do not directly relate to local conditions, making it harder for small
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companies to compete (Iliadou 2009). As a result, the PPC remains the distributor on many
autonomous islands; the Ministry of Development has designated their work on these islands as a
Public Service Obligation that they must provide.
In an effort to enhance market openness and competition, the Greek Parliament enacted
Law 3175/2003. It provides for a Mandatory Pool System covering the interconnected system
that operates on an hourly and daily basis: all suppliers must purchase energy from the Pool and
generators can only operate if selected by the market operator based on the economic bids
submitted to the Pool. Bids from generators can include fixed and capital costs. As of July 2007,
all consumers on the mainland were eligible to participate. The system allows consumers to
express their power preference to suppliers more directly. Efforts are underway to establish a
new System Operation and Power Exchanges Code and a capacity assurance mechanism (Iliadou
2009).
The most influential economic factors for the development of wind energy are the level
of feed-in tariff set by the government and the competing energy sources in the region under
consideration for wind development. The government can easily influence the first factor, but it
is generally more difficult to influence the second factor. Subsidies and tax credits do not
appear to play a large role in determining the economic competitiveness of RES installations in
Greece.
(4.1.5) The Public Power Corporation (PPC) The Public Power Corporation (PPC) is the majority state-owned electricity production
and distribution company that comprises the majority of the Greek energy market.12 It is now a
separate entity from the Hellenic Transmission System Operator (DESMIE). The system 12 PPC has been offered on the London and Athens stock markets. After three public offerings, 49% of the shares belong to the general public, institutional investors, and PPC’s employee insurance fund. The remainder is owned by the Greek State, which is required by current legislation to remain the majority shareholder.
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operated as a monopoly beginning in 1950, when PPC was fully state-owned and dominated
production, transport and distribution of electricity (Michalena and Angeon 2009). The company
held the exclusive rights to the construction, operation and exploitation of hydroelectric and
thermal power plants and transmission and distribution networks; Law 1458/1950 prohibited
private business initiatives in the electricity sector. PPC’s operations focused on the principles
of continuity, adaptability, affordability and universality (Iliadou 2009). The market theoretically
opened in 1994 when Parliament enacted Law 2244/1994. The law allowed private entities to be
auto-producers, engage in cogeneration and generate power using RES (Michalena and Angeon
2009). However, for all practical purposes, the market did not truly begin to lose its
monopolistic characteristics until February 2001 when local market liberalization officially came
into force under Law 2773/1999 (Kaldellis 2005). Greece pursued liberalization largely to
achieve compliance with EU directives 96/92/EC and 2003/54/EC (Michalena and Angeon
2009).
As a monopoly, PPC dominated both conventional and RES installations: under Law
1559/1985, it installed Greece’s first 24 MW of RES capacity. As of 1995, Greece’s only
additional RES capacity was 3MW installed by various local governments across the country
(Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy
Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007). Until mid-1998, PPC owned 142 of the 170 wind
turbines installed in Greece. However, after issues surrounding Law 2244/94 were resolved and
private investors could successfully apply to build RES installations in Greece, the installed
capacity of private wind parks quickly soared to 240 MW, dwarfing PPC’s 37 MW of capacity
(Kaldellis 2005).
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Today, PPC still controls the vast majority of Greece’s generating capacity despite
liberalization efforts. PPC-operated plants account for 12,695 MW of installed capacity, while
auto-producers, non-integrated conventional power, and RES generators account for about 1570
MW of capacity (Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and
Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007). This is equivalent to 95% of
non-RES power generation. The company employs approximately 26,200 people and supplies
more than 98% of the electricity consumed in Greece (Iliadou 2009).
Given Greece’s vast geographic and ecological diversity, the type of one-size-fits-all
approach a monolithic utility such as the PPC is likely to use is a very poor fit for the country’s
needs. As a result, competition in the field is valuable because it encourages the triumph of the
most profitable ventures and provides an incentive for companies to continue attempting to
increase efficiency through innovation and development.
(4.1.6) Greek Ministries and Governing Bodies The Ministry of Development is the main institution responsible for decision making in
the energy sector, primarily through the Department of Energy and Natural Resources. It is
responsible for elaborating on primary legislation, defining market rules, regulating energy
prices, and issuing administrative decisions such as market and technical codes, licenses, and
authorizations for energy activities. The Ministry of Economy and Finance is responsible for
financial policy and privatization issues, while the Ministry of Environment, Physical Planning
and Public Works is responsible for environmental policy and issuing environmental licenses.
Local government institutions possess power of decision regarding the issuance of environmental
permits and the installation and operation licenses for RES electricity generation (Iliadou 2009).
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(4.1.7) Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) The Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) is an independent public administrative
authority responsible for monitoring and controlling the electricity market, as well as delivering
opinions pertaining to protection of customers and the observance of the rules of genuine
competition (Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable
Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007). It is composed of seven members with
fixed term mandates selected based on scientific excellence and professional capacity and
appointed by the Ministry of Development (Iliadou 2009). The members are not obligated to
comply with governmental orders and cannot be removed for any reason that does not fall within
the bounds of a few strictly described scenarios, such as being convicted of a serious felony
during the execution of their duties (Iliadou 2009). The provisions of Law 2773/1999 established
RAE as part of harmonization efforts between Greek law and the provisions of European Union
Directive 96/92/EC regarding the liberalization of the electricity market. RAE is financially
independent, a condition ensured by Law 2873/2000, which allows it to possess its own
resources and manage them under Presidential Decree 139/2001 “Regulation for the Internal
Operation and Administration of RAE” (RAE). In order to ensure parliamentary control and
accountability, RAE is required to publish and submit annual reports about its functioning and
acts to Parliament via the Ministry of Development (Iliadou 2009). RAE provides advice on a
number of topics and has consenting or approval power on several issues relating to the
transmission and distribution grid. It must consent to third-party tariffs before the Ministry of
Development can approve them. RAE also has the ability to impose financial sanctions on
entities that violate primary or secondary energy legislation (RAE).
While the scope of RAE’s authority covers the entire electricity market, it is involved in a
number of activities that pertain directly to RES development. It formulates proposals for the
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Ministry of Development about power generation authorizations, monitors progress toward the
implementation of RES projects via quarterly reports, and can recommend the removal of
investors who show unjustifiable delays during the approval and construction process. RAE can
also make recommendations about legislative measures that would allow for further deregulation
of the electricity market: this power can be used as a tool to address issues facing RES
installations, as shown by RAE’s efforts to promote hybrid storage plants in conjunction with
RES (Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy
Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007). RAE’s consenting opinion on third-party tariffs
mean that they must sign off on all feed-in tariffs for RES before the Ministry of Development
can approve them (RAE). The Centre for Renewable Energy Sources (CRES) provides technical
assistance in analyzing RES applications (Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General
for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007).
(4.1.8) Greek Transmission Operator (DESMIE) DESMIE, also referred to as the Greek Transmission Operator (GTO), Hellenic
Transmission Operator (HTO), or Hellenic Transmission Systems Operator (HTSO) is the
operator of the interconnected grid in Greece. Article 14 of Law 2773/1999 provides for it and
Presidential Decree 328/2000 “Establishment and statutes of the Societe Anonyme HELLENIC
ELECTRIC POWER TRANSMISSION SYSTEM OPERATOR S.A.” established it (Greek Ministry
of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and Energy
Saving Directorate 2007). Its primary responsibilities are the operation, maintenance and
development of Greece’s electric-power system and interconnections with other systems, with
the goal of ensuring that Greece has access to sufficient, safe, cost-effective, and reliable power.
Law 3175/2003 expanded DESMIE’s duties to include the regulation of the daily electricity
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market, the settlement of supply and demand imbalances, and the provision of ancillary services
and reserve capacity. It plays a role in promoting genuine competition through deregulation and
increased flexibility and is obliged to ensure that the long-term margin in domestic generation is
sufficient to cope with probable future power shortages (Greek Ministry of Development,
Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate
2007).
DESMIE is important for RES in a number of ways. In October 2002, it assumed
commercial management of interconnected renewable energy plants (Greek Ministry of
Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and Energy
Saving Directorate 2007). Additionally, DESMIE is responsible for insuring that connection
guarantees are met and for paying RES generating plants located on the interconnected grid the
legally mandated feed-in tariff. Lastly, any efforts at improving or extending the interconnected
grid must go through them.
(4.1.9) Centre for Renewable Energy Studies (CRES) Article 25 of Law 1514/1985 “Promotion of scientific and technological research”
provided for the establishment of the Centre for Renewable Energy Studies (CRES) and
Presidential Decree 375/1987 “Establishment of a legal entity under private law with the
registered name Centre for Renewable Energy Sources” implemented it. The scope of its
responsibilities include promoting RES, energy saving and rational use of energy and all forms
of support for activities in any of those fields. In addition, CRES serves as the national
coordinator for all activities within those categories. It has labs that certify RES technology and
is responsible for undertaking studies to determine the physical, technical and economic potential
of RES. By providing technical support to RAE, CRES participates in the evaluation and
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monitoring of investments within the RES sector, which includes energy savings (Greek
Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and
Energy Saving Directorate 2007).
In summary, Greece contains several regions where high wind speeds make wind energy
an attractive option. Pressure from the European Union has been instrumental in pushing Greece
to develop these resources over the past decade. Greece now has a number of laws pertaining to
RES development, most of which focus on streamlining the application procedure and providing
economic support to those who invest in RES installations. Greece has also pursued deregulation
and market liberalization in order to comply with EU Directives. PPC, RAE, DESMIE, CRES,
several Greek ministries, and local governments all play important roles in the development of
Greece’s wind resources.
(4.2) Regional Study I – Cycladic Islands The Cycladic Islands are a group of medium-sized islands located in the Aegean Sea a
relatively short distance from Attica (mainland) and Euboea (large interconnected island). They
have very high levels of wind potential and a high concentration of ancient monuments. The
islands’ power systems are generally representative of the approximately 35 autonomous power
systems scattered across the Greek islands: the typical size of these systems is less than 10 MW
(Hammons 2008).
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Figure 4: Map of the Cycladic Islands
Source: Greece-Map.net
(4.2.1) Energy Demand While the absolute values for energy consumption on the Cycladic Islands are relatively
low, demand has increased dramatically in recent years. One study shows that over the past 25
years, peak load demand has grown by almost 500%: it is now about 8 MW on a typical mid-
sized Aegean island, while the most common load demand is between 2.6 and 3 MW (Kaldellis
2008). Another study estimates that demand on the islands is growing at an annual rate of 8%,
which is nearly double the rate of 4.2% found on the mainland (Hatziargyriou et al. 2007).
Tourism is one of the primary sources of income for the Cycladic Islands, which are renowned
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for their natural beauty, beaches, and ancient monuments: tourist season peaks in the warm
summer months. This means that both the typical increased use of air conditioning due to high
temperatures and the unusual population boom due to tourism drive up electricity demand during
the summer. As a result, levels of demand on the islands vary dramatically between winter and
summer, meaning that substantial reserve capacity is essential to the successful operation of the
system (Hatziargyriou et al. 2007). For much of the year, the systems experience a load that is
only 25-40% of the peak load (Hammons 2008). Many islands have been unable to keep up with
the growth in peak demand and now suffer from an energy shortage during the summer months.
The PPC predicts that total peak demand for the six major islands in the Cycladic group will be
186.55 MW in 2015 (Hatziargyriou et al. 2007).
(4.2.2) Current Energy Sources The Cycladic Islands currently obtain most of their power from small-scale thermal
generators, fueled primarily by diesel or oil. Some are beginning to switch to natural gas because
it creates fewer local air pollutant and islands suited to wind or geothermal energy are exploring
these options. The average estimated cost of electricity production on most islands is extremely
high – up to 50€cts/kWh – because production is achieved through the use of internal
combustion engines consuming diesel-oil and mazut, a low-quality heavy fuel oil; as of late 2007,
fuel costs accounted for more than 50% of total generation costs (Kaldellis 2008). Most of these
fuels are imported from other countries, leaving Greece vulnerable to price and volume
fluctuations in the world oil market. The power systems generally have only one generating plant
and a radial distribution system (Hammons 2008).
The plants in these systems must run at a minimum level in order to avoid increased wear
and tear and the associated maintenance costs, meaning that conventional plants must generate a
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minimum amount of power in each system for as long as they are in operation (Kaldellis 2008).
However, these thermal plants do not enjoy particularly high levels of popularity among the local
communities because of the detrimental environmental and aesthetic impact the emissions and
acid rain they create has on sensitive island environments. As a result, proposals to expand the
current thermal plants often come up against strong local protest, despite the fact that the islands
desperately need to increase their generating capacity in order to meet rising energy demand,
particularly during the summer peak of tourist season (Hatziargyriou et al. 2007).
(4.2.3) Wind Potential and Market Penetration The Cycladic Islands in general have very high wind potential: studies suggest that at an
elevation of 30 meters, the annual mean wind speed is above 5.5 meters per second and that in
many locations, the long-term average approaches 10 m/s (Kaldellis 2008). In general, wind
speeds above 5 m/s are categorized as medium wind potential, while winds reaching 10 m/s
represent extremely high wind potential. For the majority of existing wind parks in Greece, wind
speed is the primary factor in determining the maximum production an installation can achieve
(Kaldellis 2008).
The other factor that exerts significant influence on maximum production is the size of
the turbines installed and their rated capacity. There are legal regulations in place for the islands
that prevent the on-shore installation of turbines with a capacity of greater than 850 kW. Even
without a legal restriction in place, it is highly impractical to install larger turbines on the islands
because of the difficulty of transporting them both to the islands and to the installation site after
they have arrived on the islands. Road networks on many islands are limited, and roads that do
exist are often in disrepair or follow extremely narrow and winding paths. The remote location of
these proposed wind parks also raises concerns about staffing: if the island only installs one or
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two turbines, staff costs per kWh of electricity are higher than they would be in a larger wind
park where distribution over a larger generation capacity is possible (Hatziargyriou et al. 2007).
Training of technicians also becomes an issue as the number required increases in tandem with
increases in the total number of wind parks.
The fact that wind is an intermittent resource that does not blow all the time also limits
the amount of wind power an isolated island can generate and integrate into its power system.
Since it is impossible to guarantee that the wind will be blowing during moments of peak
demand, the prevention of power shortages and associated blackouts requires reserve capacity.
Additionally, island power systems are often unable to absorb all of the power generated by wind
turbines during production peaks, resulting in wind power rejection. Rejection occurs because of
the combination of low demand and technical limitations of existing conventional power sources.
Technically and economically, it is inefficient to bring most conventional plants off-line and then
bring them back on-line when needed again – natural gas, typical used in peak load plants rather
than base-load plants, is an exception to this rule. It is possible to run the plants below full
capacity, but they must run at or above their technical minimum in order to avoid damage to the
system (Hatziargyriou et al. 2007; Kaldellis 2008). In essence, when demand is at or below the
technical minimum for diesel and oil plants, the system rejects all wind power (Kaldellis 2008).
Applied studies suggest that on a typical island the system will always absorb wind
power contributions of 360 kW or less when they are available. The maximum possible
contribution of wind farms is 2260 kW, assuming normal constraints imposed by the network
manager are in place. Modeling also suggests that there is no significant difference in the
effectiveness of lower and higher levels of wind penetration because of the associated costs of
power rejection. Kaldellis concludes that 850 kW, or about 10% of the peak load demand of a
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remote island represents the optimum level of wind penetration from a technical and economic
perspective. In regions of low wind potential, the expected maximum annual contribution of the
wind farm is approximately 5%, while in regions of high wind potential, the contribution could
be as high as 11.5%. In both cases, the system absorbs upwards of 97.5% of all wind power
generated, meaning that real-world results are often very close to the theoretical maximum on an
annual basis. When Kaldellis increased the theoretical installed wind capacity on an island to
three 850 kW turbines, or about 30% of the peak load demand, the theoretical maximum
contribution is less than 9.5% for areas of low wind potential and about 20% for areas of high
wind potential. In the high potential study, the local network absorbed only about 55% of energy
produced by the wind park, resulting in significant levels of waste. In general, the upper limit on
wind penetration on remote islands, based on current legislation and technology, is between 12-
16% and even in high wind potential cases penetration does not exceed 20% (Kaldellis 2008).
In practical terms, the penetration limit means that under current conditions a mid-sized
autonomous system can only install one or two 850 kW wind turbines without threatening the
system’s stability and security. These numbers also imply that installation of wind turbines
would not make a great deal of technical sense on islands where annual energy demand is below
30 GWh per year.
(4.2.4) Economic Factors Economics also impose limits on wind penetration. Theoretically, the remote islands
should be very attractive locations for investment in wind energy because they possess high wind
potential and existing energy sources are extremely expensive. Production costs for small
thermal plants can be as high as 20-25€/MWh, while 84% of wind production sites on the
Cycladic Islands have costs below 50€/MWh (Anagnostopoulos and Papantonis 2008;
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Hatziargyriou et al. 2007). However, rejection limits the economic appeal of island wind farms
because an installation that can only sell 60% of its electricity is far less attractive to investors
than one that can sell 90% of its electricity (Kaldellis 2008).
In addition, the remote location of these islands and limits to feasible wind penetration
mean that wind farms on the Cycladic Islands cannot achieve many of the economies of scale
available to larger installations. Operation and maintenance costs are generally higher because of
the difficulties associated with accessing the installation sites and the high cost of land in tourist
destinations (Hatziargyriou et al. 2007). The fact that the Cycladic Islands are limited to wind
turbines of 850 kW capacity eliminates potential economies of scale present with higher capacity
turbines since the operation and maintenance costs are similar for an 850 kW turbine or a 2.3
MW turbine (Hatziargyriou et al. 2007). Also, because so few turbines can be installed on any
one island, employment costs and grid connection costs are not distributed over as many kWh of
electricity, making the per unit cost higher.
The Cycladic Islands’ economies currently rely significantly on tourism. Therefore, one
concern about the development of the Islands’ wind resources is the potential effect on the
tourism industry, and by extension the economy: many people believe that wind turbines are
unattractive, modern installations that would detract from the natural beauty of the islands and
the ancient monuments found on them. By ruining the pristine beauty of the islands, wind farms
could decrease their attractiveness as tourist destinations, which would negatively affect the
Islands as a whole. The number of jobs lost in the tourism industry would be significantly
greater than the number of jobs created by the introduction of RES since staffing a wind farm
requires only a handful of people. These concerns seem to be more about the economic losses
associated with perceived visual degradation of the landscape than the aesthetic effect of the
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wind turbines in and of itself. This response is similar to the one found on Cape Cod, MA
(Firestone and Kempton 2007).
(4.2.5) Social and Political Factors Concern about the potential impact of wind installations on tourism is just one of the
many political and social factors that influence the development of wind resources on the
Cycladic Islands. Public involvement, views of conventional energy sources, speed of
development, and perceived benefit or harm to the local community all play a role in determining
the ease of developing a wind farm on any one of the Cycladic Islands. For simplicity’s sake,
this paper assumes that social and political attitudes do not vary significantly across the Cycladic
Islands.
Samos Island represents a successful model of the development of wind power on a mid-
sized (non-Cycladic) island. Two small wind parks run by PPC were in place by 1991, providing
early familiarity with the technology among the community. During the boom in private
investment that resulted from local market liberalization under Law 2773/99, private investors
developed two medium sized installations. By 2005, these new installations were operational and
wind installations represented more than 15% of peak demand on the island. The installations are
geographically distributed. Overall, the developments have not disturbed the local population
(Kaldellis 2005).
Andros, one of the Cycladic Islands, has experienced a moderate level of wind-related
activity as of 2005. Strong interest in exploiting the island’s wind resources exists, in large part
because of the high economic cost of current power sources and the inability of current power
sources to meet peak demand during the summer months: these conditions are present on most of
the Greek islands that depend on tourism. New technological developments, such as energy
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storage through hydro or batteries, are appealing, and could increase wind penetrations in areas
where locals are likely to support expansion (Kaldellis 2005).
A study of public opinion of existing and proposed wind parks found that island residents
generally had positive views toward wind energy. Over 80% found existing wind parks
acceptable. New wind parks face greater resistance than existing ones: about 10% less of the
population finding them acceptable. This difference is most likely due to the NIMBY
phenomenon and the fact that residents near existing wind parks have had time to become more
accustomed and thus accepting of wind parks over time (Kaldellis 2005). Even an acceptance
level of 70%, the low end found on the islands, represents significant public buy-in to the process.
It is likely that public support is high because residents are aware of the power shortages that
occur during the summer months due to limited capacity, the negative local environmental and
aesthetic effects of conventional power, and the cost of oil-based fuels. Kaldellis proposed the
idea that current power supplies are a constraining factor on quality of life and economic growth,
and that the desire of island communities to expand beyond their constraints makes wind turbines
more acceptable to local populations. Additionally, wind turbines have penetrated the islands at a
relatively slow rate, beginning with small PPC-operated installations in the 1990s and only
recently expanding to larger installations (Kaldellis 2005).
Kaldellis’ economic analysis suggests that penetration has been slow not only because of
bureaucratic delays, but also because of the economics of the local energy markets and technical
limitations to how much wind power can be absorbed (Kaldellis 2008). Under current conditions,
large wind farms simply are not economically appealing on a small isolated island. Thus,
technical and economic limitations prevented the rapid development of large installations that
has traditionally led to social protest of wind installations. One or two wind turbines are
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generally far less objectionable than a forest of wind turbines, regardless of what factor limits the
number of turbines.
A sociological approach suggests that support on the island also stems from the life
experience of those living on the islands. The residents of the islands are likely to be “seamen,
traders, or working in tourism,” which puts them in greater contact with foreigners than other
Greeks. Kaldellis argues that one outcome of this contact is increased willingness to develop and
accept new ideas, making the islanders more open to RES such as wind farms than they would be
otherwise (Kaldellis 2005). He seems to base his claim purely on personal observation rather
than any scientific study. Evidence suggesting that those living in cities such as Athens or in
towns that rely primarily on tourism to sustain the local economy are also more likely to be
accepting of wind farms would lend credit to this theory. However, to date no one has performed
this type of research about Greece.
In general, local political and social attitudes toward the development of wind energy are
positive on the Cycladic Islands, although there is still a minority that opposes installing wind
turbines regardless of the perceived economic impact. However, most islanders support new
development because of the perceived economic benefits, negative public opinion toward current
energy sources, high energy costs, the slow expansion of wind farms into the islands, and the
relatively small scale of wind farms that are technically feasible on the islands. Awareness of
energy issues is high in the Cyclades due to power shortages and ongoing battles over the
extension of the operating licenses and capacity of existing thermal plants, meaning the public is
relatively well versed on energy issues. Some scholars speculate that the lifestyle of the islanders
also increases their receptiveness to the development of RES in general and wind specifically.
Together, these factors create a social environment that is receptive to the slow expansion of
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wind farms in a manner that reduces cost of living and increases quality of living among the
islands residents.
(4.3) Regional Study II – Crete Crete is the largest autonomous power system in Greece. Like the Cycladic Islands,
Crete’s electricity demand has grown rapidly in recent years and demand has an unusually high
summer peak because of tourism. As of 2001, the island’s population was about 630,000. The
island obtains 10-15% of its electricity from RES and has a transmission grid that is relatively
well designed for use with intermittent renewables. Cretans tend to support RES and oppose
conventional power sources.
(4.3.1) Energy Demand Energy demand has shown a strong correlation with economic growth on Crete. From
1995-2000, Crete’s GDP grew at almost double the national average; since 2000, regional rates
have been more in line with national rates. On average, the economy has grown at a rate of 6.8%
annually, while electricity demand has increased by 6-9% annually (Figure 5) (Giatrakos,
Tsoutsos, and Zografakis 2009; Michalena and Angeon 2009). In comparison, electricity demand
on the mainland has grown at about 5% annually (Michalena and Angeon 2009). In 2005,
Crete’s main substations distributed more than 2600 GWh, while peak load demand was 560.3
MW. The average load was 330 MW in 2005. Domestic (33.9%) and commercial users (39.5%)
dominate electricity consumption (Giatrakos, Tsoutsos, and Zografakis 2009).
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Figure 5: Logistic Energy Demand Projections for Crete
Source: Giatrakos, Tsoutsos, and Zografakis 2009
Like the Cycladic Islands, Crete has little or no excess capacity during the summer
months, primarily because of the tourist season. Demand falls significantly lower in winter
months when tourism is at a low and many of the island’s businesses shut down. As a result,
Crete has a low load factor: in 2005, it was only 54%. This means that the system operates well
below peak capacity most of the time. Therefore, the ratio of peak load technologies to base-
load technologies is higher, making the system less efficient and more expensive because peak
load technologies are dispatched more frequently than they would be in a system with a higher
load factor. In general, systems with higher load factors also have a higher percentage of base-
load capacity (Giatrakos, Tsoutsos, and Zografakis 2009).
Crete suffers transmission losses of up to 7.4% of net energy production because of the
set up of its transmission grid, particularly the 20 kV medium voltage sections. These lines serve
some of the most tourism oriented, and thus highest demand, regions, magnifying the
inefficiencies (Giatrakos, Tsoutsos, and Zografakis 2009). Despite these losses, the Cretan
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transmission grid is not generally considered problematic or poorly designed. On the contrary, it
represents an extremely successful example of RES integration.
(4.3.2) Current Energy Sources In 2004, 730 MW of fossil fuel capacity split between 3 installations and 18 MW of
renewables including hydro split between 4 installations comprised the PPC’s capacity on Crete
(International Energy Agency 2006). However, since RES installations are typically funded
through private investment, these numbers under-represent overall RES penetration on the island.
Wind and hydro dominate RES generation on the island. Biomass plays a role as well: Cretans
currently use olive kernel wood as a heat source and research is underway about the viability of
transitioning the wood to electricity production. Crete is also exploring further investment in all
forms of RES currently utilized on the island.
As of 2007, Crete possessed 129.5 MW of wind capacity, 1 MW of small-scale hydro
capacity, 0.8 MW of photovoltaic capacity, and 0.36 MW of biomass capacity, for 131.66 MW
of total installed RES capacity (Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy,
and Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007). The island’s base thermal
capacity in 2002 was 600 MW with a technical minimum of 100 MW; estimates predict that the
minima will be 140 MW in 2011 (Anagnostopoulos and Papantonis 2008). Crete’s base-load
thermal power stations all run on fuel oil and its peak load plants run on natural gas: electricity
generation accounts for 53% of the island’s total fuel imports (Giatrakos, Tsoutsos, and
Zografakis 2009). Renewable energy production currently accounts for 10-15% of total
electricity demand on the island (Giatrakos, Tsoutsos, and Zografakis 2009; Tsioliaridou, Bakos,
and Stadler 2006).
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Figure 6: System Load Curve for Crete
Source: Giatrakos, Tsoutsos, and Zografakis 2009
The PPC has 26 fossil fuel power units on the island, located in three power stations. The
system deploys steam turbines and combined cycle units first at their technical minimums – 47%
for steam turbines and 36% for combined cycle; these units have very high capacity factors –
70% for one unit – meaning that they generally produce close to maximum capacity. The system
deploys diesel engines next. These units can use lower quality fuel than can combined cycle
units and generally have capacity factors similar to steam turbines and combined cycle units.
Lastly, during periods of peak load, gas turbines are used. They require high quality fuel in the
form of diesel oil or natural gas and have high production costs. When they are available, the
system incorporates wind, which is considered to have a capacity factor of 30%, and other RES
sources after meeting the technical minimum for base load thermal plants. Crete has a reserve
margin (percent capacity above average load) of 37%. Scholars and engineers consider this ideal
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because a margin slightly above 30% is sufficient for maximum security and stability of the
power system (Giatrakos, Tsoutsos, and Zografakis 2009).
(4.3.3) Wind Potential and Market Penetration The island, particularly the eastern half, possesses a high wind potential that places it on
par with the Cycladic Islands: multiple sites experience average wind speeds greater than 10m/s
(Giatrakos, Tsoutsos, and Zografakis 2009). Crete has begun to exploit this potential: currently,
electricity generated by wind farms accounts for about 10% of annual demand, while
instantaneous penetration has been as high as 39% (Marko and Darul'a 2007). However,
rejection issues have limited the development of wind farms. Anagnostopoulos finds that on
large islands with high wind potential and significant installed capacity, the system may reject
10% or more of produced energy over the course of a year. For Crete specifically, rejection
occurs 18% of the time and is greater than 5 MW 10% of the time, resulting in an estimated total
rejection of 9800 MWh, or 13% of produced wind energy (Anagnostopoulos and Papantonis
2008).
Figure 7: HV Transmission System and Generating Plants on Crete
Source: Giatrakos, Tsoutsos, and Zografakis 2009
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Figure 8: Wind Speed on Crete
Source: Michalena and Angeon 2009
The reasons behind penetration limits on Crete are similar to those on the Cycladic
Islands: peaks in demand may not align with peaks in supply, meaning that wind power may not
be available when it is needed, or may be overly abundant when it is not needed. In addition, the
nature of large-scale thermal plants makes it difficult to bring them on- and off-line rapidly,
meaning that a certain percentage of electricity must always come from fossil fuel resources.
Since Crete has a low load factor, the technical minimum for these plants is often close to the
level of demand, which limits the amount of wind power the system can absorb. Total wind
capacity restricted to 30% of total controllable production units (thermal units) in order to ensure
that it is possible to compensate for the intermittent nature of wind. Additionally, contracts
between the PPC, which serves as the grid operator on Crete, and independent wind energy
producers limit wind absorption to 30% of the installations’ nominal capacity on an hourly basis.
This gives the PPC the right to reject excess wind in order to preserve grid stability. Increased
penetration could be achieved by scattering the wind parks across multiple locations: this would
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take advantage of the diverse wind conditions that exist on the island to deliver a more uniform
aggregate level of output from wind farms, but would increase transmission losses. In essence, it
is possible to ensure that the amount of wind power generated is most often in the middle range
of installed capacity rather than at either zero or the maximum installed capacity by distributing
the turbines geographically (Giatrakos, Tsoutsos, and Zografakis 2009). RAE estimates that by
dispersing the installations geographically, Crete could safely add at least 50 MW of wind
capacity.
Additionally, Crete has licensed a larger number of plants than have been constructed.
As of January 2006, the PPC and independent producers had been granted licenses for 195.5
MW of wind capacity, but only 105 MW were in operation (Giatrakos, Tsoutsos, and Zografakis
2009). The difference between these numbers stems from social, political and economic
obstacles.
(4.3.4) Economic Factors Crete offers a non-ideal market from an economic standpoint: a monopolistic set-up and
relatively inflexible energy supplies characterize the market, meaning that perfect competition
does not occur on the island. In 2006, overall running costs were 91.5€/MWh for electricity
production using fuel oil (Giatrakos, Tsoutsos, and Zografakis 2009). The total cost of
electricity production was estimated to be 2.6M€ in 2000; it would have been 1.45% higher
without wind installations (Michalena and Angeon 2009).
(4.3.5) Social and Political Factors Wind turbines enjoy a remarkably high degree of acceptance on Crete, most likely
because of a combination of historical and economic factors. More than 90% of the population
supports both existing and proposed wind parks, a number that is significantly higher than even
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the Cycladic Islands, which exhibit relatively high social support (Kaldellis 2005). Crete was the
first island to install wind turbines: they operated on Crete as early as 1993, with investment
coming from both the PPC and private corporations (Kaldellis 2005; Michalena and Angeon
2009). Installations were gradually increased and development was concentrated in Eastern
Crete from 1999-2002 (Kaldellis 2005). The island also experiences electricity deficits on a
regular basis, creating social conditions favorable to the development of new energy sources
(Kaldellis 2005).
Additionally, the service industry, particularly tourism, dominates Crete’s economy: the
island attracts over 20% of the country’s total tourist activity (Michalena and Angeon 2009).
There is a link between tourism and both the historic sites and the unique environment found on
the island, so any action that is likely to hurt the environment or the sites is unpopular. As a
result, there is strong public opposition to increased fossil fuel use and the associate increase in
fly ash, SO2 and NOx emissions from the addition of new thermal plants (Giatrakos, Tsoutsos,
and Zografakis 2009). Cretans generally assess RES installations as positive developments, in
part because the island is large enough to allow for the minimization of negative visual
externalities during the siting process: it is possible to find many areas of high wind potential that
are not visible from important historic sites (Michalena and Angeon 2009). Liquefied natural gas
(LNG) conversion of existing thermal plants is under consideration, although this would not
address issues such as thermal pollution and CO2 emissions (Giatrakos, Tsoutsos, and Zografakis
2009). In some municipalities, guided tours of wind parks have been highly successful in
increasing public support (Kaldellis 2005).
Crete represents a strong community, with high social density, institutional thickness, and
geographical closeness. In other words, Cretans tend to be involved with each other and feel a
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high degree of attachment to these associations; additionally, they live in geographic proximity
to one another (Michalena and Angeon 2009).
Cretan municipalities have a determinant role in the environmental authorization process
for RES installations. The decision process results in the involvement of a wide range of
stakeholders and local actors, such as residents, local authorities, the media, private enterprises,
financial institutions, and administrative services. In other words, many different groups have a
seat at the table during the decision process, allowing for collective consensus-based decision-
making (Michalena and Angeon 2009).
(4.4) Regional Study III – Interconnected Greece Interconnected Greece refers all parts of Greece served by DESMIE’s transmission grid.
This paper uses the term mainland Greece interchangeably. The majority of Greece’s energy
demand and population are located in this region. Currently, coal and natural gas thermal plants
supply the bulk of generating capacity. Some areas have developed their wind resources
significantly, but the system as a whole is not close to saturation. Social attitudes tend to be more
negative on the mainland than on the islands.
(4.4.1) Energy Demand A summer peak characterizes annual energy demand on the mainland as well as the
islands, but the variation is less extreme on the mainland. The peak has grown more pronounced
and reached higher levels in recent years, reflecting the country’s tremendous growth in
electricity demand: from 1990 to 2003, residential demand increased by 81%, industrial demand
by 17% and commercial demand by 167%. Supply increased 69%, which is equivalent to an
average annual rate of about 3.8% (International Energy Agency 2006). During 2004, gross
electricity demand was about 51.7 TWh within the interconnected system (Hammons 2008).
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Power demand and supply are located in regionally disparate locations: 68% of
generating capacity is located in Western Macedonia in northern Greece while 33% of total
demand is centered around Athens in the Attica peninsula toward the southern part of the
mainland (International Energy Agency 2006). Thus, transmission lines are particularly
important because Greece transports most of its power a significant distance. Transmission lines
in interconnected Greece exceed 10,750 km: in conjunction with the distribution system, they
provide power to over 7 million customers, or slightly less than 70% of Greece’s total population
(Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy
Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007). The transmission system is composed of 400 and
150 kV networks, allowing the transfer of power at different voltages depending on the distance
the electricity must be transported and the amount of electricity that must be transported
(Hammons 2008).
(4.4.2) Current Energy Sources As of 2005, total installed capacity on the interconnected system was 11,774 MW. Of
this, lignite accounted for 5,288 MW, oil for 750 MW, natural gas for 2,076 MW, large-scale
hydro for 3,060 and new renewables for about 600 MW (International Energy Agency 2006). As
of 2004, the grid integrated 415 MW of wind, illustrating the fact that the majority of Greece’s
RES installations, excluding large-scale hydro, have been wind turbines; however, these turbines
accounted for only about 1.5% of electricity needs that year (Hammons 2008). By 2006, wind
capacity had increased to 580 MW and biomass accounted for 25 MW (Kaldellis, Zafirakis, and
Kondili 2009). 15 major thermal power stations rated at a total of 8200 MW, 13 of which the
PPC owns, provide the primary generation capacity for the interconnected grid. Eight are lignite
plants, three are natural gas plants, and two are oil plants. The two privately owned plants are
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natural gas powered and located relatively close to the center of consumption (Kaldellis,
Zafirakis, and Kondili 2009). It is estimated that lignite supplies in Greece will be depleted
within 25-50 years depending on consumption rates and changes in local energy content of the
coal (International Energy Agency 2006; Kaldellis, Zafirakis, and Kondili 2009).
(4.4.3) Wind Potential and Market Penetration Areas of high wind potential, such as Southern Euboea, Eastern Peloponnese, and Thrace,
have attracted high levels of investment already. Wind installations are connected to the high
voltage transmission network (Hammons 2008). These regions are generally sparsely populated
and construction of their transmission infrastructure occurred years before most considered RES
generation a viable option. As a result, market penetration has been limited because the existing
local grid is unable to absorb high levels of wind energy. Efforts are currently underway to
reinforce the existing transmission infrastructure: they focus on Southern Euboea, Southeastern
Peloponnese, and Eastern Macedonia-Thrace (Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate
General for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007).
Wind farms connected to the interconnected grid tend to be much larger than are those
found on autonomous islands: the average capacity in 2006 was 17 MW. As of 2006, the
mainland had 442.8 MW of installed wind capacity, representing about three-quarters of
Greece’s total wind capacity (International Energy Agency 2006). However, Greece has
licensed a vastly larger number of plants: as of July 2004, it had granted licenses to 395 wind
installations totaling 3,421 MW of capacity (Hammons 2008). Speeding or easing the process of
progressing from holding a license to constructing a plant would increase Greece’s RES
penetration dramatically.
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(4.4.4) Economic Factors Economic conditions on the mainland differ significantly from those on the Cycladic
Islands or Crete, despite the fact that the same framework for RES support exists in both regions.
Economic differences are mainly due to differences in fuel supply, land availability and grid
capacity.
The heavy reliance on lignite as a fuel for electricity generation has typically ensured that
consumers in the interconnected system enjoy extremely steady and low electricity costs. The
price per kWh of final consumption in Greece has been 52% less than the average retail price
among EU-15 countries (Kaldellis, Zafirakis, and Kondili 2009). Since electricity prices have
been relatively low on the mainland and current supply is generally able to adequately meet
demand, interconnected regions have not experienced the regular power shortages that occur on
the islands. Additionally, conservation and energy efficiency efforts receive little support from
the public because the economic incentives involved are small and there is no perceived need to
reduce energy consumption.
Costs for electricity from conventional fuels are much lower on the mainland than on the
islands, making it more difficult for RES electricity to compete economically. However, RES
installations in the interconnected grid do enjoy some economic advantages. Land is more
readily available, which decreases land use competition and the price of purchasing land.
Additionally, because peak demand is so much larger in the interconnected system, wind farms
can be much larger, increasing the achievable economies of scale. Producers can spread costs
such as labor and connection to the transmission system, which do not change much as capacity
increases, over a larger amount of generating capacity, decreasing the cost/kWh produced. The
mainland can also accommodate the installation of larger wind turbines, allowing producers to
generate the same amount of electricity with fewer turbines, which decreases maintenance costs.
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However, wind speeds are generally lower on the mainland, with the exception of areas where
local concentration effects exist (specific locations that are particularly windy because of local
geographic features rather than large-scale wind patterns). Since wind speed and electricity
generation are exponentially correlated, a 1 MW wind turbine on the mainland will generally
generate less power than a 1 MW turbine on the islands.
Feed-in tariffs on the mainland are lower than those on non-interconnected islands, with
the exception of offshore wind farms, which qualify for the same tariff regardless of whether
they are connected to the main grid (Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General for
Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007). This indicates
that the Greek government believes either that installation on the islands is more desirable or that
installation on the mainland requires a lower level of support because it faces fewer constraints.
Given Greek commitments under Directive 2001/77/EC and the Kyoto Protocol, the latter is
more likely to be the case, although some scholarly articles seem to suggest that island wind
power is more economically competitive than mainland wind power.
(4.4.5) Social and Political Factors The development of wind energy has been primarily concentrated in South Euboea and
the Peloponnese, regions that now exhibits high levels of resistance to the development of more
wind farms (Kaldellis 2005). For example, in the Southern Peloponnese, notably Lakonia, RAE
and the Ministry of Development have considered proposals or approved a large number of wind
installations. However, because of conflicting desires for land use and tension between local
authorities and the central government, the residents of this region vehemently oppose any new
wind installations. In some cases, this hostility has been expressed in “dynamic actions” directed
at individuals and authorities attempting to introduce wind energy in the region (Kaldellis 2005).
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South Euboea exhibits similar conditions: in 2005, the installed wind capacity in the
region was close to 150 MW, roughly half of total Greek wind capacity at the time. The region is
now very hostile to the development of new wind parks. Scholars believe this is the result of a
rapid concentration of wind parks in a limited geographic region over a very short timeframe.
Resistance to wind farms in a region of high concentration does not bode well for the country as
a whole, as it prompts those in regions considering developing wind turbines to question why
residents of regions that currently have installations are so unhappy with them (Kaldellis 2005).
Kaldellis found the acceptability of wind farms among residents of the mainland to be
very low. The study found less than 40% support for existing wind farms in almost every region
examined. Support for new wind parks was even lower: only one-half to one-third as many
people supported new wind installations as opposed them. Scholars attribute this opposition to
the fact that the wind farms developed rapidly through a central government program without
concern for “local scenery aesthetics” or local involvement, as well as the conservative nature of
mainland people that results from their employment as farmers and stockbreeders. As on the
islands, a minority of the population opposes the development of new wind energy installations
regardless of potential economic benefit. This is particularly worrying since even a single person
has the potential to derail a proposed installation through legal action. Unfortunately, neither the
characteristics of this group nor why they are so vehemently opposed to wind turbines are well
understood: greater knowledge of the group could assist in overcoming these negative attitudes.
Uncertainty about the financial and social impact of wind farms also contributes to negative
attitudes towards proposed development (Kaldellis 2005).
The extreme negativity of residents of the Peloponnese and Southern Euboea may also be
attributable to the fact that traditionally a significant distance has separated them from generation
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facilities: the entire Peloponnese possesses only two coal-fired plants, located in close proximity
to one another, while Euboea’s only installation is an oil-fired plant. As a result, mainland
residents are generally less aware of the negative local environmental and health effects that
result from conventional power generation than are their island counterparts. Additionally, the
energy supply on the mainland has generally been cheap and plentiful, creating little incentive in
the mind of consumers for conservation. As a result, mainland residents may be less likely to
accept what some see as aesthetic pollution in the form of wind turbines and historic conditions
prevent potential benefits, economic or broader, from being apparent.
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(5) Findings This section presents a summary of the key findings from each regional study. This
overall analysis incorporates all elements discussed in the previous section in order to describe
situation as a whole and identify key constraining factors. Next, the section explores potential
solutions to these challenges. Solutions are both technical and social.
(5.1) Overall Analysis This section presents a summary overall situation on the Cycladic Islands, Crete, and the
mainland. It allows for side-by-side comparison of the challenges each region faces and ties
together the five aspects of wind energy presented in each regional study in the previous section.
(5.1.1) The Cycladic Islands The Cycladic Islands have very high wind potential and a favorable social climate.
Additionally, the high cost of the current energy sources mean that the consumers on the island
can benefit economically from any increase in the amount of energy they derive from RES
sources: In remote situations, RES installations can actually generate electricity at rates at or
below the going rate. However, there are challenges to achieving economies of scale because of
technical and legal limitations on the amount of wind capacity that can be installed in remote
systems: these have the potential to make the islands less attractive to investors. Overall, the
economic climate on the islands remains favorable because of high wind speeds and mandated
feed-in tariffs.
Technical limits to how much power the system can absorb at any given point in time
constrain the capacity of wind power the Islands can viably install. The grid limits absorption
capacity for energy from wind farms to 30% of peak demand (Greek Ministry of Development,
Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate
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2007). Technical constraints from existing power sources further limits maximum wind
penetration to about 20% of peak load demand, with likely penetration being closer to 12-16%
(Kaldellis 2008). As a result, it is impossible for installations on the Cycladic Islands alone to
get Greece to its countrywide goal of 20.1% power from RES by 2010 based on simple
mathematics. The island group represents less than 8% of national energy demand and existing
connections to the mainland are not sufficient to export large amounts of power from the islands.
Current levels of RES penetration have saturated the electrical systems of most autonomous
islands: thus, there is little potential for the deployment of more RES capacity without a technical
solution, such as energy storage (Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General for
Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007). Across the
Aegean Islands, Crete, and Rhodes combined, the total viable capacity of wind is estimated at
about 300 MW, which is less than 10% of the installed wind capacity the Ministry of
Development believes is necessary to meet the 2010 target: 210 MW have already been granted
installation or operation permits. The Ministry of Development predicts that because of
limitations to penetration, Crete, Rhodes, and all the Aegean islands can only install an
additional 35 MW wind capacity without the deployment of new technologies (Greek Ministry
of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and Energy
Saving Directorate 2007).
(5.1.2) Crete Crete represents a Greek success story about RES development: penetration has increased
over the past decade and a half to about 15% of total demand. Social acceptance is very high,
but further development of wind farms and other RES sources faces limitations because of wind
power rejection and grid constraints. As of 2003, RAE halted the rapid development RES on
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Crete by characterizing the system as saturated (Giatrakos, Tsoutsos, and Zografakis 2009). The
development of hybrid storage systems is the most likely avenue for increasing Crete’s share of
RES. However, even with the use of storage systems, substantial increases in the number of
wind turbines on Crete is unlikely to increase despite favorable social conditions. Instead,
increases in RES share are likely to come from other sources, such as solar or biomass.
(5.1.3) Interconnected Greece The mainland faces challenges due to the state of its transmission grid and high levels of
social opposition. In addition, not all areas of the mainland have the levels of wind speed
required for wind turbines to be economically attractive. Domestic coal is a valuable resource for
the nation, as it provides a large number of jobs and limits the quantity of oil and gas Greece
must import. As a result, Greece should attempt to extend the timeline for depleting these
deposits, while taking into consideration the potential impact of carbon pricing schemes in the
future. Efforts to improve the transmission grid in order to increase its ability to absorb wind
energy in areas with high wind potential are necessary, as are outreach efforts aimed at
improving the social standing of existing and proposed wind installations.
(5.2) Potential Solutions As shown by the regional studies, Greece must overcome a number of challenges in order
to achieve its EU targets. While there is some variation in how these obstacles manifest
themselves based on local conditions, they all center on the same basic ideas. The largest
technical challenge is finding better ways to match the intermittent supply of energy generated
by RES with the cyclical demand for energy: this would increase the achievable and wise level
of penetration. A growing number of countries are facing this issue as RES penetration increases
globally. On the islands particularly, large fluctuation in seasonal demand and technical
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minimum operating levels for conventional plants that represent a substantial proportion of off-
peak demand, complicate the issue and lead to increased wind power rejection. Economically,
any installation must provide incentives for investors, either through the natural conditions alone
or through the presence of government assistance in the form of subsidies, tax benefits and/or a
feed-in tariff. Socially, efforts must be made to increase the acceptability of both new and
existing wind installations. Politically and legislatively, government bodies should attempt to
further streamline the application procedure.
Technical and economic challenges often go hand-in-hand: a solution to a technical
problem often increases the possible economies of scale or eliminates an inefficiency that
resulted in higher costs per kWh generated. Increased economic benefit can assist in overcoming
social challenges in some scenarios, although the existence of a portion of the population that
resists wind installation regardless of perceived economic effect means that social challenges
require a broader array of solutions than simply making wind energy more profitable for the
residents of a community. Alternatively, simplifying the legal framework and streamlining the
application procedure can make wind installations more attractive to developers or investors.
Greece could also use the legal system to ensure that local communities are involved in the
decision-making process.
Possible solutions to the problems facing future development of wind energy in Greece
include hybrid plants that store excess wind energy for use when the wind is not blowing,
interconnection of autonomous islands with the existing mainland grid, the extension of the
existing grid and development of a modern smartgrid, and social outreach efforts. The following
sections assess each of these solutions in detail. Hybrid plants that can run on both renewable
and conventional fuels, offshore wind installations, the coproduction of clean water and RES
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electricity, legislative revisions, and economic incentives also have the potential to resolve some
of the challenges Greece faces. However, the author believes the solutions included in the first
list are more likely to be used than are those in the second list. As a result, this thesis only
discusses the first set in detail.
(5.2.1) Hybrid Plants – Wind and Storage Storage options can increase the potential percentage of the islands total electricity
consumption that comes from RES by better coordinating the use of RES-generated electricity
with overall demand for electricity. During periods when RES production is high, but demand is
low, excess energy is put into storage. During periods of low RES production and high demand,
the producer draws upon this stored energy and feeds it into the grid, increasing the amount of
power available. However, because no storage system is 100% efficient, the total amount of
energy generated by the RES is more than the total amount of energy the plant sells to the grid
system operator. There are a number of methods for storing energy, including chemical,
electrochemical, mechanical, and thermal. Examples include hydrogen production, battery
storage, pumped water storage, or heat storage in molten salts. At present, economic and
technical reasons make pumped storage the most common option for use with wind energy: it fits
particularly well with wind installations on the top of mountain ridges since a natural gradient
already exists (Anagnostopoulos and Papantonis 2008).
Pumped storage systems work on relatively simple concepts. The plant operator
constructs a reversible hydraulic system with both a pump and a turbine present at the lower end.
Wind energy that the grid would have rejected powers the pump, storing water in an upper
reservoir. When the grid requires additional energy, pumping ceases and water released from the
upper reservoir turns the turbine: the electricity generated is fed into the grid (Anagnostopoulos
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and Papantonis 2008). Energy is lost in the process, as pumping water into the upper reservoir
requires more energy than the water generates when it flows back into the lower reservoir.
However, if the power used to pump the water into the upper reservoir is power that the system
would have rejected, pumped storage represents a net increase in the percentage of generated
electricity that is absorbed by the grid.
In addition to increasing the amount of wind energy that the system actually uses,
pumped storage offers a number of other advantages. It reduces the total cost from operating
thermal plants by limiting the amount of power they must generate. Additionally, because the
source of the electricity used in pumped storage does not matter, producers could use it in
conjunction with conventional sources (Anagnostopoulos and Papantonis 2008). Technical
limitations mean that the most efficient method of generating electricity would be to run all
conventional plants at a set level all the time: fluctuations in production reduce the efficiency of
these plants. If a storage solution exhibits a higher level of efficiency than the current system of
running base-load plants below 100% capacity, then base-load plants could run at a constant
level, using the storage system during off-peak hours and drawing on stored power to
supplement base-load supply during peak hours. However, research and development of storage
system to improve their efficiency must occur before the systems will be widely used
conventional plants since current technology allows for relatively efficient control of the amount
of electricity conventional plants generate. Another possible benefit of pumped storage,
particularly in island settings where water is often in short supply, comes from the potential for
using water stored in the reservoirs for consumption or irrigation, as well as for protection
against fire during emergencies (Anagnostopoulos and Papantonis 2008). Obviously, electricity
cannot be generated by water removed from the upper reservoir and a minimum level of water
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must be maintained for the system to operate. However, the ideas bear further consideration
among communities considering installing pumped storage systems. Other potential issues
include obtaining a adequate supply of fresh water in areas that have traditionally suffered from
shortages,13 evaporative losses, the logistics of determining when to pump and when to generate
power, and design of technical components, including pipe size, reservoir size, pump power,
turbine capacity, and a number of other issues.
A number of studies have been conducted in an attempt to determine the ideal design of
storage systems in a given setting and the ideal level of deployment of pumped storage within an
energy system. Generally, findings about the technology are positive. Based on the positive
scholarly findings, the PPC is constructing a trial plant on Ikaria. It will produce about 23 GWh a
year, one-third of which will come from pumped storage (Anagnostopoulos and Papantonis
2008). Additionally, revised feed-in tariffs under Law 3468/2006 include hybrid plants in the
same category as wind and small-scale hydro, creating a more certain investment environment
than in the past (Parliament of the Hellenic Republic 2006). As a result, until the European
Parliament released the text of the new Directive in December 2008, it appeared likely that
development of hybrid plants would begin to increase over the next few years. The Directive
explicitly states that “electricity produced in pumped storage units from water that has previously
been pumped uphill should not be considered to be electricity produced from renewable energy
sources” (European Parliament 2008). It is unclear whether the EU will count energy from wind
farms used to power the pumped storage unit toward the RES target. If the EU counts this
energy, then the exclusion simply eliminates double counting of RES electricity. However, the
new system would result in higher calculated levels of RES penetration than would net metering
13 Currently, the systems require fresh water because engineers consider salt water too corrosive to be an economically and technically sound choice for use in these systems.
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of the combined RES-pumped storage unit because pumped storage is not 100% efficient. The
technology is unlikely to gain popularity if the decision not to count pumped storage electricity
as a RES causes countries to eliminate feed-in tariffs for hybrid plants.
Despite the new EU restriction, storage remains an essential element of expanded RES
penetration and the Directive also notes the need to support the use of storage systems in order to
integrate intermittent renewable production (European Parliament 2008). At present, it makes
the most sense to deploy hybrid storage systems in areas that have or will shortly reach
maximum RES penetration. In the context of Greece, autonomous islands are most likely to fit
this description. Therefore, if Greece uses pumped storage, the short-term focus should be on
deploying it in places like the Cycladic Islands and Crete. One estimate shows that the
installation of a pumped storage unit equal to Crete’s wind capacity could safely drive hourly
wind penetration on the island to 36.4%, as opposed to the current limit of 30% (Giatrakos,
Tsoutsos, and Zografakis 2009).
In the long-term, hybrid storage could play a role on the mainland as well. However,
mainland RES penetration is currently well below the technical maximum. Therefore, it makes
more sense to increase RES capacity first and then focus on adding storage capacity unless this
option is exponentially more expensive. If the developer concludes that pumped storage at a
proposed installation would increase efficiency and decrease cost per kWh sold, then they should
utilize the technology regardless of the current level of RES penetration. In essence, if estimated
costs due to power rejection are greater than the cost of building a pumped storage system, then
the pumped storage system is an economically sound investment and the producer should be
seriously consider implementing it.
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(5.2.2) Interconnection Small autonomous electric systems, such as those found on the Cycladic Islands, face a
number of unique challenges because of the low number of generating facilities and low absolute
demand. As a result, the capacity of renewables the system can easily incorporate is much lower,
although the percentage of RES penetration the system can accommodate does not vary
significantly based on demand size. While technical solutions such as storage or hybrid plants
can increase RES penetration, the most straightforward method of eliminating the challenges
currently faced by an autonomous system is connecting it to a much larger grid: in Greece, this
would be DESIME’s grid on the mainland. However, interconnection poses its own set of
technical challenges. As grid operators transmit power over greater distances, transmission costs
due to line losses and construction costs increase. The islands’ wind energy is no longer
economically competitive when these costs exceed the difference in generating costs between
wind farms on the mainland and the islands. Additionally, the construction of new high voltage
transmission lines is often controversial: no one wants them running through their neighborhood
and debates about the environmental impact of the lines often arises. A decision must also be
made about whether to use high-voltage direct current (HVDC) or high-voltage alternating
current (HVAC). HVDC has lower transmission losses, making it possible to transmit power
further, but the grid operator must convert it back to AC before feeding it into the main
transmission grid. Currently, HVDC Light technology shows the most potential. It would
improve the functioning of the AC grid by smoothing out instantaneous sags and spikes and
allowing for more rapid resolution of blackouts. Additionally, it could completely replace oil-
based generation on the islands. Lastly, it would strengthen the existing AC connection and
establish an alternate pathway for use in case of damage to either line. HVDC Light technology
has been successfully used for submarine connections in Norway and the Long Island Sound, as
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well as in Gotland, Sweden. The environmental and visual impact is minimal: converter stations
resemble normal buildings and lines are located underwater or underground (Papadopoulos et al.
2004). If Greece succeeds in constructing the transmission lines, interconnection could increase
RES penetration for Greece as a whole by allowing greater exploitation of the wind resources
found on the Cycladic Islands.
Currently, interconnection of Crete with the mainland system is not under consideration
due to strong undersea currents, the depth of the sea and seismic activity in the region (Giatrakos,
Tsoutsos, and Zografakis 2009). However, the Cycladic Islands are located close enough to each
other, the mainland, and South Euboea for interconnection to be a possibility using either HVAC
or HVDC technology (Hatziargyriou et al. 2007). Increasing the population served by the islands
alleviates issues of reserve capacity and penetration in the short-run: the much larger
interconnected grid can absorb much higher amounts of wind energy in absolute terms (MWh
rather than percentage of peak load demand) and provides additional backup capacity to the
islands through the presence of large coal-fired baseload plants. The Cycladic Islands are an
ideal site for such a project because of their extremely high wind potential and their proximity to
Athens, the center of electricity consumption in Greece. Interconnection would allow the
Cycladic Islands to install significantly more wind turbines than is currently possible by
increasing the absolute capacity the network could absorb. One estimate is that the maximum
capacity would be 408 MW on the Cycladic Islands alone, a vast increase from the current
estimate of 300 MW for Crete, Rhodes, and all other non-interconnected islands (Greek Ministry
of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and Energy
Saving Directorate 2007; Hatziargyriou et al. 2007). The islands would use this power first, and
then ship any excess power to the mainland via high-voltage cables for consumption: the
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relatively short distance the electricity must travel would minimize transmission losses. If wind
energy cannot meet demand on the islands, DESMIE could reverse the direction of transmission,
allowing the islands to use power generated on the mainland (Hatziargyriou et al. 2007).
Interconnection could also provide local environmental benefits to the islands by
allowing them to limit the operation of oil-fired plants and obtain a greater portion of their
energy from RES and mainland plants. Ideally, interconnection would eliminate the need to
develop new conventional sources on the islands, which represent a particularly sensitive region
from both an environmental and a cultural perspective (Hatziargyriou et al. 2007). Decreasing
local air pollution by decreasing the operation of conventional plants to the technical minima
would improve local quality of life, although this could also make conventional power sources
less efficient and therefore more expensive. Feasibility studies are necessary to determine
whether such a system could potentially allow for the phase-out of all conventional power
sources on the islands, or if the islands would need to maintain some reserve capacity. Multiple
connection points to the main grid and within the islands help to minimize the chance that the
island system could become completely isolated from the mainland due to damage to the high
voltage transmission lines.
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Figure 9: Existing and Proposed Interconnection of the Cycladic Islands
Source: Hatziargyriou et al. 2007
The plan currently proposed would connect Andros, Tinos, Syros, Mykonos, Paros,
Naxos, Euboea, and Lavrio, with a potential expansion to Milos in order to take advantage of
geothermal resources found on the island (Figure 9). A report issued by a joint commission from
PPC, DESMIE, and RAE said the project was “bound to begin around 2010” and declared that
the main goals of the project were ensuring a reliable supply of power on the islands and
gradually decommissioning the autonomous diesel plants. Hatziargyriou et al. used GIS
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technology to estimate the number of turbines each island could install if there were no local grid
penetration limits. The parameters used to select potential sites were: terrain slope of less than
15°, altitude of less than 1200m, wind speed greater than 6m/s, maximum wind park installed
capacity less than 20 MW, existing infrastructure and substation locations, exclusion of
archaeological sites, exclusion of sites visible from Ancient Monument Areas, exclusion of
Nature Protected Areas, distance of at least 1000m from towns, and distance of at least 1000m
from the coastline. Based on these parameters, there are 290 possible sites spread across the
Cycladic Islands, with an average wind speed of about 9.7m/s: this indicates a very promising
investment environment for wind energy development (Hatziargyriou et al. 2007).
Limits on the amount of wind power the islands can generate still exist under
interconnection because of the thermal limits of the interconnection networks. Therefore, while
the 290 viable wind parks could support 1250MW of capacity, the maximum installed capacity
on the interconnected islands is 408 MW. Despite being less than one-third of the possible
capacity, the maximum capacity under interconnection still represents a significant increase over
the capacity possible without interconnection. It is more than double PPC’s forecast of peak
demand on the Cyclades in 2015, meaning that even during periods of high demand on the
islands, if the wind was blowing strongly, more than half the power generated on the islands
would be shipped to Lavrio and Euboea. Wind power generated on the islands would cost 30.6-
65€/MWh, with 84% of the potential sites having costs below 50€/MWh. Additionally, the
internal rate of return on sites with the highest production costs is above 17%, meaning that wind
power installation on the Cycladic Islands would be attractive even without an installation
subsidy: the pay-back period is extremely rapid under the conditions present on the islands and
most sites have internal rates of return well above 17%. For example, on Andros, the island with
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the best wind potential, the least efficient wind park has production costs of 37€/MWh and an
internal rate of return just less than 40% (Hatziargyriou et al. 2007).
There are a number of economic and technical reasons to consider interconnection.
However, since the planned start date for construction is in 2010, the timeline is too long for
interconnection to be useful in improving Greece’s performance on the 2010 goals. However,
interconnection of the Cycladic Islands will likely be an essential element of Greece’s strategy
for meeting its obligations under the new EU Directive and the Kyoto Protocol because it allows
the country to take advantage of the high quality and currently under-exploited wind resources
available on the islands.
(5.2.3) Grid Expansion and a Smartgrid The grid represents a key component of the electricity system: without sufficient grid
capacity, it is impossible to transmit power from producers to consumers. Greece designed its
existing grid infrastructure well before renewables were a viable power source, so the grid’s
design favors connection to a handful of large-scale conventional base-load and peak load power
plants rather than a multitude of small-scale intermittent RES plants. The Ministry of
Development recommended that in South Euboea, Southeastern Peloponnese, and Eastern
Macedonia and Thrace planned RES projects should wait for the completion of current
transmission construction projects before beginning installation, showing the importance of
transmission capacity. Instead, investors and developers should focus on installations in areas
without transmission or local acceptance problems (Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate
General for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007). This
approach essentially amounts to picking the low hanging fruit first. However, it has the potential
to create social resentment in regions previously supportive of wind energy if the installation of a
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large number of turbines occurs rapidly and without sufficient community involvement. There is
no guarantee that such a reaction would occur, but government planners and private investors
should be aware of the possibility.
Greece has begun to realize how difficult the intermittent and dispersed nature of most
RES installations makes maintaining a supply of uninterrupted power. Large-scale hydroelectric
provides one exception to this rule. As a result, RAE is composing a set of parameters that
would resolve the problem by using new technology to control data processing and load
dispatching. These upgrades would increase consumer costs unless the government provides the
funds. Various techniques and capabilities for incorporating RES should be priced and appraised
in parallel with conventional sources in order to minimize cost to consumers while maximizing
benefits (Greek Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable
Energy Sources and Energy Saving Directorate 2007). In the future, an updated grid will be
essential to meet both growing electricity demand and the 2020 targets. While literature
published by Greek organizations generally does not employ such terminology, the technologies
involved in the updated grid are essentially the same as those referred to as a smartgrid in the
United States.
(5.2.4) Social Outreach Negative social attitudes toward wind installations on the mainland represent a significant
constraint to increasing RES penetration in the interconnected system. Since this system
represents the bulk of Greece’s power consumption, it must come close to the overall target in
order for Greece to achieve the target. Although academic research in the field is relatively
limited, the general consensus seems to be that renewables are more acceptable in areas where
the power supply is insufficient; where deployment of RES systems happens slowly and with
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public involvement; where conventional plants have substantive local effects and are viewed
negatively by the population; and where dense social ties allow for easy collection and diffusion
of information (Kaldellis 2005; Michalena and Angeon 2009).
Crete reached a situation in the early 1990s where power demand sometimes exceeded
supply during the peak summer months. Crete’s options were to meet new demand through
conventional sources, meet new demand through renewable sources, meet new demand through a
combination of the two, or reduce demand. The local population found the first and fourth
options highly unappealing, while the second option was not technically viable at the time. As a
result, Crete chose the third option and promoted demand-side management techniques to limit
the growth rate of electricity demand. Support for the outcome is extremely high and is likely
partially because Cretans can see the tangible increase in quality of life brought by the
deployment of RES. The reason why local resistance to conventional plants was particularly
strong in Crete is believed to be due to their perceived negative impact on tourism. Cretans have
also been in contact with wind turbines for longer than have any other Greeks: generally,
increased contact and familiarity leads to increased acceptance (Michalena and Angeon 2009).
Since awareness of power constraints appears to be one of the key elements required to
create a social environment that is welcoming of existing and new RES installations, Greece
could use education efforts to increase public acceptance of wind installations. Some believe
that if Greek citizens better understood the potential consequences of global warming, negative
social costs of conventional plants, the realities Greece’s limited coal supplies, and the
obligations Greece has under EU directives and the Kyoto Protocol, they would be more
accepting of wind installations. This argument relies on the idea that people care about more
than just their own self-interest and that they have some sense of broader responsibility and
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obligation, although social education also emphasizes the personal benefits to specific groups
from embracing these new technologies. Some see an approach that focuses on education as
condescending because it seems to imply that if people simply knew more, then they would see
the error of their ways and dismisses any potential validity of local concerns. However, given the
disparities that exist between commonly expressed views and scientific knowledge, Greece has a
clear need for outreach of some sort.
Another important element of generating social support is involving the local community
in the decision-making process. While the emphasis Greece has placed on expediting the
permitting procedure for RES installations has a number of benefits in terms of promoting
investment, the importance of local buy-in should not be underestimated. The mechanism for
giving local community members a sense of ownership over the process is not clear: town-hall
style meetings that are fitting in an American setting are less culturally appropriate in Greece.
Again, Crete provides some examples of how to achieve local involvement. Key actors should
be identified and used to increase community support. Communication channels between local,
national, European, and international authorities need to be established. Additionally, a long-
term vision of the benefits provided by RES installations gives residents time to adopt new views
of the technologies (Michalena and Angeon 2009). Developers should take into account local
culture and heritage when picking potential RES installation sites, as communities are
significantly more likely to support installations that do not threaten unique characteristics of the
area (Michalena and Angeon 2009). Most importantly, any effort to increase community support
must consider the unique local conditions, values and structures: it is highly unlikely that a “one-
size-fits-all” approach will succeed.
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Attention to the social aspects of developing wind installations has been largely missing
from efforts on the part of the Greek government: the most recent annual report made in
conjunction with EU Directive 2001/77/EC focuses solely on plans to overcome technical and
economic challenges associated with RES development. While the technical and economic
challenges are certainly important to overcome, Greece, or any country, cannot ignore the social
challenges. A complete strategy is necessary: if Greece is serious about meeting its targets, this
strategy must at least begin to create a welcoming social environment for RES throughout
Greece. It is important for decision makers to remember that RES installations should provide
environmental, economic, and social benefits, as well as that the local population is the end-user
of these benefits, not an obstacle to be overcome (Michalena and Angeon 2009). The challenges
presented on the mainland of Greece generally fall into the category of NIMBYism: people do
not oppose wind energy per se, but they are adamantly opposed to having it installed near their
home. Attitudes like this have been problematic in many locations around the globe that are
developing wind energy. There are no easy solutions to the problem, yet it must be resolved in
order to increase global wind penetration.
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(6) Analysis This section discusses the conclusions drawn from the research and their broader
implications. (1) The main constraining factor across all regions is technical limits to grid
penetration, because of either local transmission infrastructure constraints or system-wide
demand levels. (2) Interaction between Greece and European Union governing bodies make
Greece more likely to have and work towards RES standards than would be the case if it were
not part of the EU. Lastly, (3) misinformation is a significant distorting factor in Greece, often
preventing wind installations from occurring. The first influences the focus of future technology
promotion schemes, while the second two influence the speed at which Greece develops RES.
An understanding of all three is essential for continued forward movement in this area.
(6.1) Grid Constraints The technical constraints of grid capacity and existing power sources are the most
important factor to overcome for wind installation to continue: without technical capacity to
install additional wind turbines and incorporate the power they generate into the system, social,
economic, and political issues become irrelevant. In other words, if there is no technically viable
way to install wind turbines, the economic competitiveness of the power that would be generated
the strength of social support does not matter.
The timeline set by the EU makes the speed at which Greece can bring RES installations
can be brought on-line is extremely important: Greece has a target of 20.1% RES by 2010, but as
of 2007 had less than 10% RES generation including large-scale hydroelectric plants (Greek
Ministry of Development, Directorate General for Energy, and Renewable Energy Sources and
Energy Saving Directorate 2007). Clearly, even with rapid construction, it will be extremely
difficult, if not impossible, for Greece to meet this target. The countrywide level of the target is
another key factor in recommending that Greece focus on developing wind power on the
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mainland, rather than the islands, which generally possess higher potential. Since the target is
for the country as a whole, it makes sense to install turbines first in the areas where development
will be fastest and easiest, and then expand out to regions that require more substantial
investment in transmission grids and/or storage capacity. This rationale underlies the order of
priority given here to various projects that would all ultimately result in an increase of RES
penetration on the national level. If the goal were simply to create communities using clean
energy, or if an island decided to turn to renewables for reasons related to the community, the
recommendations for the future would differ from those found here.
Based on grid limitations and the importance of rapid development, the overlap between
areas of the mainland where the transmission grid is underutilized or has been enhanced, or
where upgrades are in progress and areas of high wind potential represent the best location for an
immediate expansion of Greece’s wind power capacity. Given the intermittent nature of wind, as
well as fluctuating levels of demand on a daily and seasonal basis, reserve capacity and
distribution of wind installations is essential to consider when increasing the percentage of
electricity generated by wind. An integrated grid allows for the transmission of power from one
area to another, meaning that power from excess wind in one region could be sent to another
region where the wind was not blowing, thereby preventing economic losses due to both power
rejection and power shortages.
In essence, the grid means that on a national level, the percentage of backup capacity can
be lower: installing wind power on a non-interconnected island requires either storage capacity
or back-up capacity almost equivalent to the wind capacity installed unless hybrid systems are
used, whereas wind power on the mainland can have a lower ratio of back-up capacity to wind
capacity since the odds that all of the mainland’s wind turbines will stop working at exactly the
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same day are extremely low, especially if wind farms are distributed across the country.
Additionally, fluctuation in demand on the mainland is less severe than on the Cycladic Islands
or Crete, meaning that the technical minima of existing base-load plants is less likely to lead to
wind power rejection because of excessive supply: unlike island plants, mainland plants rarely
operate at or near the technical minima.
From the perspective of climate change and local air pollution, the focus on the mainland
also makes a great deal of sense for the rather obvious reason that this power system accounts for
the majority of Greece’s electricity generation and associated emissions. Coal is the primary
power source in the current integrated grid, so displacing those power plants first makes a great
deal of sense in terms of mitigating CO2 emissions and particulate matter. The mitigation of air
pollution would improve quality of life among Greece’s citizens, as well as aiding in the
preservation of priceless cultural landmarks such as the Parthenon and hundreds of other ancient
monuments by mitigating acid rain.
However, there are some drawbacks from an energy security and social perspective: the
coal is part of an entirely domestic supply chain, while the oil used to generate much of the
electricity on the islands is imported from foreign countries. In addition, the coal industry
largely incorporated into the state-run Public Power Corporation. Any shift away from coal is
likely to result in job losses, which are politically and socially unpopular, and could lead to
general strikes if the scale of job losses was large enough. Clearly, care must be taken to provide
assistance in transitioning members of the current energy workforce into a new RES workforce.
On the whole, the challenges associated with back-up capacity and lack of
interconnection among the islands, combined with the size of the population served in the case
studies, means that the mainland appears most attractive in the short-run. However, social
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resistance to wind installations on the mainland makes mainland installation a less than ideal
situation. In a perfect world, wind turbines would be installed in regions with high wind
potential and social support, such as the Cycladic Islands. Additionally, further expansion within
the mainland will require an upgraded transmission system and the incorporation of new energy
management technologies, resulting in a smartgrid. Such improvements are costly and time
consuming.
Since there are limitations to the amount of capacity that the currently unexploited
transmission potential on the mainland can support, Greece should complete the proposed
interconnection between the Cycladic Islands and the mainland while mainland installations are
under construction. Interconnection resolves the vast majority of problems associated with
increasing wind installations on small islands. Connecting the islands to the mainland grid
reduces the need for additional reserve capacity and the percentage of time when they system
rejects wind power because there an energy surplus. Additionally, wind turbines installed in the
islands are more efficient than those on the mainland because of higher wind speeds.
Interconnection would increase the maximum amount of technically viable wind capacity on the
islands from about 6-12 MW (based on six installations of 1-2 MW) to over 400 MW,
representing a substantial contribution to the country’s overall installed RES capacity.
However, without political cooperation, Greece may not be able to complete these
connections within the timeframe set by the EU. Without significant support from the
government and an easing of the regulatory process, approval of the proposal itself is unlikely to
occur before 2010 and construction of the cables would require additional time on top of the
approval process. Education of local communities is especially important for this measure, as
they have been the ones providing much of the resistance to the transmission proposals, despite a
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general acceptance of wind power. Care must also be taken to ensure that the islands do not feel
that they are being used as a massive power plant for the mainland: financial compensation may
come into play, possibly through the legislative requirement that renewables generators give 3%
of their profits back to the communities in which they operate. Posing the installation as the first
of many might increase public approval.
In essence, from a technical and resource standpoint, installing wind farms on high-
potential islands and interconnecting them with the mainland is the ideal method of utilizing
Greece’s wind resources. However, from a political and social perspective, it presents
significant challenges. Despite these challenges, interconnection appears to represent the mid-
term proposal with the largest potential impact on the country-wide situation.
In the long-term, attention returns to the mainland: the transmission system must be
revamped to incorporate distributed generation of intermittent RES. Additionally, efforts must be
made to improve the social perception of wind installations. Increased wind penetration in the
mainland actually allows Greece to stretch its domestic lignite supplies over a longer time period,
thus delaying increased demand for foreign oil and natural gas and the economic losses
associated with the death of a domestic industry. New technology should be incorporated into
the grid design, allowing for the creation of a smartgrid that can manage the various resources
connected across the grid and ensure a steady and secure supply of energy. Wind prediction tools
will also be an important element of the long-term plan because they allow for better matching of
supply and demand.
On a broader level, these findings indicate that RES should be installed in areas already
linked to the primary grid, rather than in isolated regions that lack interconnection. Within the
grid, efforts should be made to place renewable installations in locations with the highest
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renewable potential, but expenses associated with grid expansion should also be considered.
Countries should pursue interconnection if it is possible to easily and inexpensively connect an
area of high renewable potential to the existing grid, as is the case for the Cycladic Islands. The
high level of RES penetration on Crete and factors that prevent interconnection mean that the
island is unlikely to play a significant role in Greece’s future RES strategy, despite the unusually
high level of social support found on the island. The only option for increasing penetration in
situations similar to Crete is to deploy storage technology. The government should support
research in these areas, as they will be important in the long-term, but grid enhancement should
be the priority. Grid expansion requires political and social support, as expansion tends to be
more controversial than simply updating the existing grid.
These recommendations only apply if increasing a country or region’s overall percentage
of renewables is the goal of building new RES. If the goal were to allow an isolated island to turn
to primarily renewable energy, the solution would emphasize storage capacity and a diversified
RES portfolio rather than grid limitations. The national level of the target allows Greece to take
advantage of areas with high renewable potential in order to make the installations as effective as
possible. Relative effectiveness declines in importance if the goal is to move an entire
community away from conventional energy sources – in a situation such as that, the question
becomes “What RES make the most sense in this location?” instead of “Where does it make the
most sense to place RES?” Overall, in a region where high potential for renewables exist, the
grid and its ability to transport electricity from one location to another are the primary
constraining factors. Since expanding and updating the grid generally requires some level of
government approval, the political and social attitudes of the area are important as well.
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Continued deployment of RES requires an up-to-date and extensive grid, so the grid should be
expanded to connect areas of high renewable potential that are not currently integrated.
In summary, while parts of the mainland where grid enhancement has occurred or is in
progress are the most viable location for immediate development wind installations, further grid
enhancement on the mainland and interconnection between the mainland and the Cycladic
Islands should be a priority for the future and is potentially more beneficial. Further RES
penetration on Crete is unlikely to be a significant contributor to country-wide targets because of
the overall size of demand within the system.
(6.2) European Union – Greece Interactions Greece has pursued RES at a much higher rate than would have been likely otherwise
because of its relationship with the EU. The targets are set by an outside group, which allows the
Greek government to distance themselves from public unhappiness with the goal. Since the
transition to renewable energy is relatively expensive and Greek citizens do not have a tradition
of pushing for environmental efforts, the ability to push responsibility up one level further is
important in allowing the government to achieve these targets while still retaining their political
popularity. In essence, having targets set by the EU has allowed Greek politicians to turn to the
public and say, “Look, we’re not happy about this either, but the EU has said we have to do it, so
we’re going to do the best we can to make it beneficial to you.” It allows the government to
pursue new energy sources while remaining in the good graces of the public. In addition,
although the targets 2010 are indicative rather than mandatory, there are consequences to failing
to make a serious effort to achieve the targets. The combination of carrots and sticks in the form
of financial or technical assistance and punishments provides incentives for continued progress
toward the targets. Neither one would be sufficient to prompt action on its own, but together they
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have been fairly effective: although Greece still has a long way to go in order to meet its 2010
target, it has made a great deal more progress than could have been expected had the EU not
been involved.
While the presence of an over-arching body pushing for action has proved beneficial to
Greece from a political standpoint, Greece’s geographic location has made it difficult for the
country to take advantage of intra-EU connection, a benefit most other EU countries have
utilized. Since Greece is geographically far from all other EU countries, with the exception of
Italy, interconnection with these countries to take advantage of their development of RES and the
associated economies of scale is next to impossible with today’s dominant technologies. There
has been some suggestion that HVDC cables could be used to resolve this problem, but these
would have to either be placed underwater between Italy and Greece, or pass through non-EU
countries. Either option poses both technical and political challenges. As a result of its location,
Greek efforts to achieve the EU target have focused primarily on building RES installations
within its borders, rather than using interconnection with neighboring countries. Interconnection
efforts have focused on more traditional energy sources, such as natural gas pipelines, which
generally easier to achieve than an agreement regarding the exchange of electricity generated
from various RES installations in different countries. Such agreements are possible, but they are
significantly easier to achieve between two EU countries than between an EU country and a non-
EU country. In addition, many of Greece’s major population centers are not located close to its
land borders, although there is some potential for interconnection between the eastern-most
islands and Turkey.
Had Greece been able to easily engage in the intra-EU trade in energy, it would have
been able to avoid a number of the limitations that stem from the intermittent nature of wind and
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other RES, possibly allowing installation to occur at a faster rate. However, this alone would not
have increased installation rates, as the relatively slow speed at which they have progressed thus
far is also related to the regulatory process in Greece. This is another area in which the EU may
be able to provide pressure and force change to occur at a faster rate: Greece needs to continue to
develop more streamlined application procedures for those wishing to develop RES installations,
and EU guidelines could potentially assist in this effort. Greece is not the only country that
would benefit from such streamlining – a number of EU countries would likely make more rapid
progress in achieving their RES goals if application and permitting procedures were less
convoluted. Efficient government is not something that has traditionally been high on the list of
Greek priorities, so outside pressure would be particularly useful given the cultural context.
The model of a larger body pushing countries or states to action is one that could be
applied in numerous contexts. One of the largest challenges associated with increasing the
market-share of RES is that it is an expensive endeavor that is not politically popular in many
countries. In democratic settings, allowing politicians to outsource responsibility for the decision
to a group that is not directly accountable to the public can expedite the speed with which a
transition takes place. In general, the United Nations has not been particularly effective in this
role because it lacks the ability to take punitive action against those who fail to comply. The
Kyoto Protocol is essentially voluntary and relies on self-enforcement; as such, it has proved less
successful than was hoped. While the EU targets are still non-binding, they have a bit more
force behind them because of the ability of the EU to take actions such as removing countries
from the EU-ETS. The likelihood of another supra-national body such as the European Union
emerging in the next few decades seems relatively low, but such a model has the potential to be
highly effective in speeding up the transition to RES. In particular, this could benefit developing
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nations that are in the process of creating energy infrastructures by forcing them to start with
technology and infrastructure suited to their RES resources. It appears unlikely to be an effective
mechanism in the United States, if only because the United States is highly unlikely to join any
group that requires it to relinquish a portion of its sovereignty. However, it is possible that such
a system could be deployed in the United States on a regional basis, perhaps through the
formation of coalitions of states based on existing grid infrastructure.
(6.3) Public Attitudes and Misinformation Public perception and the attitudes of those in the Greek government have also
significantly influenced the development of RES in Greece and will continue to do so in the
future. The fact that Greece has traditionally faced a “knowing-doing” gap when it comes to
environmental issues carries over to RES via its role in mitigating climate change. There is
significant evidence that while Greeks profess concern about the state of their environment and
environmental issues, when asked about what actions they take to influence the environment for
the better, very few come up – recycling rates are low, many people litter, and energy efficiency
or conservation on a personal level is virtually unheard of. In addition, misinformation about
wind installations and RES in general has run rampant in Greece. Few ordinary citizens really
understand how feed-in tariffs work, what the country’s energy balance looks like, or where the
energy from these installations is likely to be consumed. Combined, the knowing-doing gap and
misinformation have been a significant deterrent to the development of new wind installations.
Public opinion is particularly powerful in Greece, which has a robust history of social
protest as well as very tight-knit family groups and, often, communities. As a result, community
buy-in to any project is extremely important in expediting the process: if an investor has the
support of the community, the installation is likely to be approved at a much faster rate than if
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the community opposes the installation. Support is particularly important in the small island
communities that have the highest wind potentials in the country. There is evidence that
suggests that education and involvement of the community from the early stages can have
positive impacts on public perception. In addition, distributing wind installations across broader
areas, rather than concentrating them in one region, generally makes them more politically
popular. Incidentally, distribution of installations is also ideal from a technical standpoint, as it
allows for a diversification of resources, limiting the chances of a power shortage at any given
time. If wind energy can be tied to national pride or even just escape from the many negative
associations that have arisen in recent years, Greece’s ability to succeed in meeting its EU targets
will improve dramatically.
The importance of education and community involvement is one that applies to almost all
communities where wind energy is being considered. NIMBYism has the potential to be
counteracted to some degree through an unbiased presentation of facts: the benefits of wind
energy should be presented, but negatives should not be omitted, as this weakens the perceived
validity of all facts presented. The situations where wind installations have been abandoned
have largely occurred in areas where misinformation and negative sentiment ran rampant. It is
never going to be possible to achieve one hundred percent buy-in, but it is likely to be increased
if the community feels that they have been involved in the decision making process from the
beginning, rather than being left out in the dark until the end. Developers must make a greater
effort to reach out to the public and make information available in easily understandable terms.
An emphasis should also be placed on showing the community the potential benefits to them
from the installation of wind turbines – job creation, pollution reduction, and the ability to
promote themselves as a user of green energy to the growing number of eco-conscious travelers
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are likely to resonate with the local population. In a more urban setting, such buy-in becomes
less important, but in general, wind installations are not developed within the immediate
proximity of cities.
(6.4) Broader Implications Within Greece, there are numerous parallels to the situation found on the Cycladic
Islands. Many, but not all island groups are close enough to DESMIE’s transmission system for
interconnection to be an option. For those unable to connect to the main grid, interconnection
among neighboring islands should be considered, although the resultant systems would still be
significantly smaller than even Crete’s power system. The Cycladic Islands also offer parallels
for small autonomous power systems around the world. Crete and the mainland have no
parallels within Greece, although the success RES installation has met with on Crete could
potential serve as a model for Rhodes, which is the second-largest autonomous power system in
Greece, albeit still significantly smaller than Crete. Additionally, the findings for Crete can be
generalized to other islands or networks with similar load capacity and high growth in demand.
The technical findings for the mainland are applicable to almost any large transmission network,
while the economic and social findings are more limited in broad applicability. However, it is
interesting to note that mainland Greece and the United States generate a similar share of their
electric power from domestic coal resources, and thus have traditionally enjoyed access to
abundant, reliable, and low-cost electricity. However, Greece faces greater urgency in
minimizing its coal consumption because its supplies are predicted to be depleted in 25-50 years,
rather than more than the more than 200 years estimated to remain in US coal reserves.
The primacy of the grid as a constraining factor has a number of implications for the
world at large. As penetration of intermittent renewables continues to increase, transmission
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grids must keep pace. Penetration of more than 30% is difficult to achieve under current
technological limitations. An increase beyond these levels can lead to instability in the system.
The reality of these constraints has already been shown in the United States by the near-failure of
electricity networks in both California and Texas due to the combination of hot days and low
wind levels: both grids narrowly avoided crashes due to insufficient supply. As a result, the
development of smartgrids centered on distributed and intermittent generation as replacements to
traditional grids focused on centralized and constant generation will be vital to future RES
deployment. For countries with existing grid systems, this means investing in grid upgrades and
redesigns. For countries that are only beginning to construct infrastructure, many of these
problems can potentially be avoided by implementing grid designed to handle distributed
generation from the beginning. However, such grids are more expensive than traditional grids,
so support from other national and international bodies will be necessary.
The success that EU directives have had in motivating Greek political action has
extremely interesting implications for global efforts to increase RES generation. It implies that,
at least within democracies, an outside mandate can actually be politically beneficial by allowing
elected politicians to distance themselves from the decision. Rather than being the ones forcing
change upon the public, they can take on the role of the person who understands why you are
upset and would love to help, but who simply has his hands tied by rules coming from higher up.
While the likelihood that the US would become part of an organization similar to the EU
is extremely low based on the emphasis the country has traditionally placed on policy autonomy,
it is possible that similar dynamics could be generated within the U.S. government. The legal
wrangling that would be necessary to achieve it is complex, but if a mandate could be issued by a
non-elected body, such as the EPA, congressional members and state governments could
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distance themselves from the decision itself while taking the steps necessary to achieve the
targets. Under current conditions, the shift to RES is a political hot potato: while environmental
awareness and demand for “greening” is growing, conversion is expensive and financing is in
short supply due to the collapse of the banking industry that has occurred over the past several
months. President Obama’s decision to include substantial government funding for renewable
energy and energy efficiency initiatives in his recovery plans may have served as the outside
push necessary to generate a meaningful shift in the United States: only time will tell whether his
actions will create incentives for improvement similar to those created by Directive 2001/77/EC.
Lastly, public support for RES projects is vastly important to their success, yet efforts to
increase public acceptance of wind turbines are often completely omitted from plans for RES
development. The logic behind this omission is unclear: it may be that solutions are extremely
hard to come by, or that most assessments are performed by engineers and economists who are
focused on the technical and economic aspects of proposed installations. Regardless, efforts to
incorporate the public in the process should be an essential part of any plan. This can be achieved
intentionally through community meetings, education programs, tours of wind farms and other
similar programs. However, support can also occur naturally, particularly when the current
method of producing electricity is insufficient to meet the demands of the population, resulting in
a lower quality of life than desired. On a broad level, the natural concentration of support in
areas with power shortages provides an extremely favorable atmosphere for RES development:
such areas should be on the forefront of plans to increase RES penetration.
These conditions are most likely to be found in isolated areas that mirror the situation on
the Cycladic Islands, or in areas that are not currently electrified. In areas with little or no
electrification, even an intermittent source of electricity represents an improvement in quality of
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life. Since these areas were not currently powered, installing RES in them does not constitute a
reduction in the current use of conventional generation, although it may prevent the expansion of
conventional generation in the future. Within the United States, Alaska provides the strongest
parallel to the Cycladic Islands: there are a large number of isolated villages that rely on local
diesel-based generation for their electricity supply. In these towns, wind turbines and
hydropower are widely accepted because energy costs are extremely high and any reduction in
the amount of energy generated using diesel fuel represents a decrease in energy costs; wind
energy can compete with conventional fuels in such settings.
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(7) Conclusion This thesis assesses the current state of wind energy in Greece by examining the technical,
economic, social and political factors that influence the development of wind installations. It also
provides lessons learned and makes recommendations for future efforts to promote wind energy.
The research was broken down into four studies: countrywide factors and regional studies of the
Cycladic Islands, the island of Crete, and interconnected Greece. The most relevant countrywide
factors were the national legislative framework, EU membership and associated pressures and
obligations, and national players in the energy industry, namely the PPC, RAE and DESMIE,
which are the majority power producer, regulatory authority, and transmission system operator
respectively.
The study of the Cycladic Islands indicates that the combination of an extremely low
absolute level of demand, vast seasonal fluctuation in demand due to tourism, dependence on
imported oil for electricity generation and extremely high wind potentials can create an
environment where residents are willing to consider the development of wind farms. Despite
this, technical constraints that cap potential grid penetration and lead to wind power rejection
have limited the deployment of wind energy: there is no economic incentive to build a wind farm
that cannot sell the vast majority of its power to the grid because of stability concerns. The use
of hybrid systems or storage methods offers some potential for overcoming these issues, but even
if 100% of the islands’ power came from RES generation, this would only constitute 186 MW of
generation capacity in 2015. This does not come close to the capacity Greece will need to reach
its EU targets. Interconnection with the mainland, however, would allow for the installation of
408 MW of wind capacity across the island group, which is significantly more than the use of
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storage solutions allows for. As plans for interconnection move forward, it will be important to
assess the social response from involved communities.
Crete possesses a well-designed grid capable of handling higher levels of RES
penetration than can either the mainland grid or smaller autonomous island grids. It has
experienced 8% annual growth in electricity demand in recent years, but Cretans oppose both the
construction of new thermal plants and the expansion of existing ones. As a result, RES
development, primarily in the form of wind energy, began in the early 1990s; residents view it
very favorably. The island currently obtains about 10% of its energy from wind turbines,
making it one of the most successful examples of RES development in the country. Further RES
penetration on Crete will require the development of storage technologies, since interconnection
is not a viable option for Crete. It is unlikely that Crete will play a significant role in increasing
Greece’s wind capacity in the future, but the island can provide valuable lessons for forward
movement in other regions.
On the mainland, the combination of lignite coal supplies, a transmission grid designed to
incorporate conventional power generation, social opposition, and lower wind potentials create
an environment where wind power has been less successful than the area’s high wind potential
allows for. The rapid development of a large number of wind farms in concentrated areas
without efforts to involve the local population in the process generated great deal of resistance to
both existing and new installations in these communities. This has negative implications for
future developments, since residents of areas with proposed turbines often look to areas with
existing turbines as predictors of the outcome. Ultimately, Greece will need mainland
installations in order to achieve its EU targets. Options for increasing wind penetration in the
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mainland include grid enhancement, social outreach programs, and interconnection with island
groups where both wind potential and social acceptance are higher than on the mainland.
Based on the regional assessments and the role of countrywide factors, the author
proposes a three-stage plan to achieve continued penetration of wind energy, and RES more
broadly, within the Greek electric system. In the short-term, efforts should focus on installing
turbines in mainland areas where transmission capacity is already sufficient or improvement
projects are under way and nearing conclusion. Greece should also emphasize efforts to include
local residents in the process. While mainland installation is in progress, the country should
pursue interconnection between the mainland and the Cycladic Islands, with the goal of
completing the required transmission lines by the time mainland installations in areas with
transmission capacity are completed. The development of the wind resources found on the
Cycladic Islands for use on the mainland is the medium-term solution. In the long run,
significant improvement and revamping of the mainland transmission system will be necessary
to allow for further RES development on the mainland. Ideally, by this point in time, the public
will be more accepting of wind turbines because they have had time to become accustomed to
their presence.
Greece also offers two universal lessons regarding wind power implementation. First,
Greece’s membership in the EU pushed the country towards increased RES installations, albeit at
a rate that is still below that set by the EU. The opportunity for politicians to outsource
responsibility for the negative aspects of a transition to RES makes it more likely to occur, a
lesson that is applicable across the globe. Secondly, social attitudes represent a significant, but
often ignored, factor in determining the success of proposed wind installations. Both the degree
of community involvement and the supply of energy in a region appear to shape social attitudes:
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if energy is costly and in short supply, support is likely to be higher than if energy is abundant
and cheap.
In summary, as the development of wind energy increases across the globe, grid
constraints will become increasingly relevant. Outside pressure for change can serve as an
important motivating factor for action in countries that might otherwise be reluctant to enact
legislation or programs advocating a shift towards RES. Lastly, those contemplating developing
wind farms must consider social attitudes, even though they are difficult to explain and
potentially challenging to alter: failure to consider the impact of local opposition can be a costly
mistake. It is possible to generalize solutions that make sense for the Cycladic Islands and Crete
to autonomous power systems of similar size and to apply findings about the importance of the
grid on the mainland to any large-scale grid designed to handle conventional generation capacity.
The diverse conditions found in the three regions analyzed are representative of much
larger samples on a global level. It is easy to generalize technical solutions, while economic
elements are applicable to areas with a similar energy portfolio composition. Social attitudes,
while sharing some common elements such as the occurrence of NIMBYism, are harder to
generalize, and the legislative framework is unlikely to be identical across countries, although
efforts to increase wind development could attempt to mimic successful elements of Greek
legislation. The field of wind energy faces a number of challenges to continued development,
but the future in Greece looks promising.
Further research addressing the field’s challenges and potential solutions in an integrated
manner is essential for forward movement: energy production plays out in a multi-dimension
world and attempts to understand it from only one perspective will almost always fall short.
Technological development will play a large role in the ability of Greece to meet its targets, as
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will efforts to create favorable social, political and regulatory environments for RES installations.
No single aspect of wind energy is powerful enough to allow for success on its own, but a failure
to address almost any aspect has the potential to derail wind installations. Therefore,
interdisciplinary cooperation is of the utmost importance.
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