By Anders Lorenzen

Having been at the forefront of dealing with climate impacts in recent years, Greece has shored up its renewable energy targets.

Greece, which has recently battled one climate-fuelled wildfire after the other, has ramped up its renewable energy targets. The revised 2030 energy and climate plan, unveiled by the government, targets the expansion of wind and solar power.

The Mediterranean country aims for renewables to account for an 82% share of electricity production by 2030. The previous plan released in 2019 had set out only a 66% share.

The plan has been submitted to the European Union (EU) for approval, as the 27-country member block aims to cut emissions by at least 55% by 2030.

Ironically, the blistering Mediterranean sun and windy conditions, which make the country a hotbed for wildfires, also present perfect renewable energy potential. Since 2014, Greece has doubled its renewable energy output with a series of new solar and wind projects, and they have shut down most of their coal-fired plants.

We are in a climate crisis

Unveiling the plan, the Greek Energy and Environment Minister, Theodore Skylakakis, said, “As we speak, the country has overshot its targets for the penetration of renewables as well as for cutting greenhouse emissions.” He pointed out, however, that the revised plan did not deal with the problem of how to adapt to the climate change that is already happening. “The prevailing opinion is that we will be able to prevent the climate crisis before it occurs… but the climate crisis is already here, with huge economic and fiscal implications…. We’re in October, and this weekend, we will have 34 degrees Celsius, – which means that we have already entered the climate crisis “.

The country, still not over its financial woes following its Euro-Zone crisis in 2015, has been hit with severe floods and wildfires this year. Due to financial constraints, they have been struggling to finance the repair of these extreme weather events and to make the required infrastructure investments that would make the country more resistant to extreme heat.

The revised 2030 Energy & Climate plan estimates that an additional investment of €95 billion is needed by 2030 to scale up energy efficiency, solar, wind and energy storage projects.