Greece has no significant oil and natural gas deposits and currently relies on very dirty lignite to cover the bulk of its energy needs. While Greece will continue to oppose nuclear power and will keep supporting Moscow-backed pipeline projects to carry Russian oil and natural gas to western Europe, it is also looking to renewable energy to meet its growing energy demand.
In 2006, the country’s Parliament passed comprehensive legislation which provides grants, favourable tax treatment, and a €0.40-0.50 feed-in tariff as incentives for setting up business or installing solar-PV systems. For commercial entities, incentives in the form of grants can run as high as 50% of the total cost of a company’s solar system. The government's goal is to install 700 MW of PV in the country by 2020.
While Greece’s Renewable Energy Sources Centre recently announced that thanks to this legislation, the combined electricity output from PV solar installations throughout Greece rose more than two-fold from just 14 MW in January to 29.8 MW in July of this year, the Greek government believes progress in developing its renewable energy base has not been satisfactory and has therefore announced a renewables plan to boost uptake.
Greece's new Prime Minister George Papandreou, who was elected at the beginning of October, wants to see Greece becoming the "Denmark of the South" and alongside his government, he has adopted a "green growth" model which it is hoped will enable the Mediterranean country to produce a fifth of its total energy from renewable sources by 2020. Environment and Energy Minister Tina Birbili said in her maiden speech to parliament earlier this month that this new plan includes a new set of incentives and revised licensing procedures to cut red tape and tap Greece’s solar and wind power resources.
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