PPC turns to renewables
Electric power 0company Public Power Corporation (PPC) is moving toward boosting energy production from renewable energy and ridding itself of its historical reliance on inefficient and highly polluting lignite, also known as brown coal.
Getting rid of lignite may appear to be a straightforward green move but is politically fraught in the cities of Ptolemaida, in western Macedonia, and Megalopoli, in the Peloponnese, where thousands of jobs still depend on lignite production.
That is why PPC has committed itself to retaining as many jobs as it can in these areas by investing in electricity production from renewable energy sources. The plan is to have power plants with a total power of 1.5 gigawatts in place by 2024.
On Monday, Public Power Corporation subsidiary PPC Renewables published the terms of the tender for the construction of a solar power plant in Megalopoli, while the construction of a cluster of solar panels that will eventually reach a total capacity of 230 megawatts began on July 24 near the Ptolemaida lignite power plants.
Construction company Metka EGN is building the infrastructure for the first 15 MW, while another construction firm, Terna, is expect to start building infrastructure for another 15 MW segment in September. The bulk of the project, with a capacity of 200 MW, will begin in January 2021.
PPC Renewables’ board also approved the terms of a likely agreement with power firm Motor Oil to build a 100 MW wind turbine park on an island. To implement this project, a way must be found to connect it to the power grid on the mainland.
The first 30 MW of the Ptolemaida project is expected to join the national grid in the third quarter of 2021, while the whole project will be completed in the second quarter of 2022 (April-June).
This is one of the biggest investments of the PPC Group, and PPC Renewables in particular. The construction phase alone will create 300 local jobs.
The 50 MW Megalopoli project’s cost is estimated at 30 million. The electronic auction to determine the contractor will take place on September 30.
