Electricity is becoming more expensive, despite the “green revolution”: something went wrong

Energy transition in Greece is turning into a crisis: the country is faced with an overabundance of “green” energy, which simply has nowhere to go, while electricity prices continue to be one of the highest in Europe.

According to the Ministry of Environment and Energy, the total capacity of renewable energy projects has exceeded 80 gigawattsdespite the fact that average consumption does not exceed 5.5 GW.

“Ανέβηκα προπερσι στην κορυφή από τα Νάματα…
Ένα καταπληκτικό μονοπάτι, μέσα σε σκιερό δάσος οξυάς, με το ρυάκι να τρέχει δίπλα.
Μετά ένα απότομο ανέβασμα σε βράχια και σάρα και εκεί βγαίνεις στην πολυπόθητη κορυφογραμμή.
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— Ελεύθερα Βουνά χωρίς αιολικά (@savegreekmounts) October 23, 2025

The rapid “investment” passion for solar and wind stations has led to network oversaturation and energy overload. Wind farms have filled the mountain peaks, and excess energy, as officials themselves admit, cannot be saved and simply “goes nowhere.”

The Ministry is preparing to review licenses

Deputy Minister of Energy Nikos Tsafosspeaking at the Renewable & Storage conference, admitted that the government has issued an excessive number of connection permits. According to him, we are talking about 69.5 GW of photovoltaic projects And 16–17 GW of wind installationswith another 20 GW under preliminary consideration.

He emphasized that “Investor interest has become unrealistic” and the country must move to new model of flexible connectionswhich will allow dynamic distribution of power and avoid network congestion. “We can no longer guarantee 100% network access to all producers,” Tsafos said.

According to him, Greece is preparing for European model of capacity distributionwhere the connection is made taking into account the current load. At the same time, the ministry promises to focus on developing systems electricity storagecapable of redistributing the load and using energy during peak demand hours.

“Όχι σε πολλά χρόνια από τώρα, τα βουνά αυτών των τόπων θα είναι γεμάτα με παρατημένα σκουπίδια σαν κι αυτό στη φωτογραφία που τράβηξα όταν ανεβήκαμε στην περιοχή Μάρε, λίγο πάνω από τη Ζήρο στο Λασίθι της Κρήτης.
? pic.twitter.com/zf6frsXrQc

— Ελεύθερα Βουνά χωρίς αιολικά (@savegreekmounts) October 12, 2025

ADMIE confirms energy chaos

Chapter ΑΔΜΗΕ Manos Manoussakis confirmed that applications for connecting new RES projects have already exceeded 50 GWof which 43.5 GW comes from photovoltaic plants and 6.5 GW from wind turbines. “There is a serious imbalance between supply and demand. Already, 33 GW are connected or have permits, while the ΕΣΕΚ plan provides for only 27 GW,” he noted.

He emphasized the need “realistic approach”based on real demand and export potential through new energy connections. At the same time, the most important role in stabilizing the market should be played by energy from storage systems.

The market is “self-regulating”

Director of Licensing Department ΔΕΔΔΗΕ Ioannis Charalambidis noted that after simplifying procedures in 2020, over 50 GW projects waiting for connection conditions. Now new applications have dropped to 1-2 GW per year, indicating a “self-limiting” market. He also said that it had begun review and possible revocation of old licenseswhich have not been implemented.

Separately, he noted that storage projects have already been issued 60 GW permits for battery systems and 20 GW for pumped storage. However “interest is exhausted – the market is saturated”, – added Charalambidis.

High prices are the fault of gas, not the sun

Despite the avalanche-like growth of renewable energy sources, electricity prices remain high. According to Tsafos, the reason is the high cost natural gaswhich continues to determine the base price in the market. “When a lot of gas is used, prices rise. This is a pan-European problem.” – he emphasized.

However, the official noted that today Greece has lower wholesale prices than Bulgaria And Romaniaand also became energy exporter nine out of ten days. According to him, “this transformation is already bringing an economic effect – a 500 million euro improvement in the trade balance.”

Thus, the energy revolution in Greece turns into infrastructure test: an oversupply of “green” energy has exposed the weaknesses of the system, and the promised reduction in tariffs still remains on paper.

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