The Greek electrical system ran completely on “clean” renewable energy for the first time. Renewable energy sources covered Greece’s electricity demands for five hours in late October, the Independent Power Transmission Operator, or IPTO, said. Renewables posted a new record that day, reaching a peak of 3,106 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity.
The company, which owns and operates the Greek electrical transmission system linking power plants with customers, said the accomplishment will open the door to making its energy greener in coming years.
Greece relies on a range of sources for electricity, with no one source accounting for more than 50 percent. In August of 2022, natural gas, wind and solar, accounted for the most power. IPTO also draws electricity from hydropower, as well as from brown coal one of the dirtiest fossil fuels.
As of 2019, Greece’s total energy consumption per capita (including electricity, oil and other segments) ranked 52nd in the world, with 108 million Btu per person. Greece used around a third as much energy as the U.S., which reported 304.41 million Btu per person.
Greece’s accomplishment arrives after a decade of weening off fossil fuels, at the same time as it has boosted the capacity of renewables and large hydropower plants, according to The Green Tank, a Greece-based nonprofit environmental think tank.
According to The Green Tank, cumulatively for the first eight months of 2022 Greece, renewables excluding large hydro, surpassed all other energy source with 13238 GWh, leaving fossil gas in the second place with 13150 GWh which decreased slightly for the first time since 2018.
