Greek government approves return of lignite to power generation

The government has agreed to double lignite power generation as part of a four-point plan to ensure an adequate supply of power at affordable prices.

The plan was agreed at an emergency meeting on the energy crisis chaired by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday. At the meeting, Public Power Corporation (PPC) CEO Georgios Stasis said that coal-fired electricity generation will increase to 10 TWh.

In effect, coal-fired electricity generation will replace electricity generation using more expensive and possibly completely unavailable natural gas, at a cost estimated to be about half that of natural gas at current prices.

The main obstacle will be the increase in production from coal mines in such a short period of time. The country’s lignite mines were closed on an accelerated basis for environmental reasons.

In 2019, the government’s ambitious national energy and climate plan aimed to phase out coal from the electricity mix no later than 2028, now it will be forgotten for a long time. However, if you don’t really nod at the environment, this decision will return thousands of jobs in this rather problematic region of Greece, from where, due to the closure of power plants and quarries, a mass exodus of the population began.

[АМНА]

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