PM to visit Halki to inaugurate newly created green energy, telecoms projects
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is visiting the island of Halki in the eastern Aegean on Friday to inaugurate individual projects and actions implemented by companies that are participating in a long-term project that aims to provide lower electricity bills, reduction of environmental pollution and an upgrade of the energy and telecommunications infrastructure on the islands.
The GR-Eco Island plan aims to make the islands independent of the national grid by providing them with renewable energy sources and transform them into models of green economy, energy autonomy, digital innovation and ecological mobility. In the first phase, priority is given to the smaller, unconnected and remote islands, having selected those that meet population criteria, but also based on their plan of interconnection in the mainland system, their energy needs, tourist traffic and accessibility. A key criterion is also the commitment of local leaders and islanders to implement the planned interventions, based on what is possible and technically and economically optimal in each case.
In Halki, the companies involved in the project – Akuo Energy, Omexom/Vinci Energies and public power utility PPC – completed the installation of a 1MWp photovoltaic system, which will produce green energy able to meet the demands of the island, through the method of Virtual Net Metering. the Siggelidis/Citroën group donated six electric vehicles to the police and the Coast Guard and the municipality, with the placement of four chargers of electric vehicles in the port of the island. ALD Automotive delivered two more cars which will then be donated by the Siggelidis/Citroën group to the municipality, while PPC Blue installed four publicly accessible charging points.
Vodafone Greece delivered 5G technology to Halki, free WiFi and device charging points with a “smart” bench installed in the port. The Vodafone Foundation’s telemedicine program will offer free access to basic preventive medicine examinations.
A 10-meter solar electric boat with integrated photovoltaic panels was also delivered to the municipality by tobacco company Papastratos.
The benefit is estimated at a total of 180,000-250,000 euros per year, while the “green” energy from the photovoltaic replaces the electricity production from oil resources brought by units in nearby Rhodes, resulting in the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 1,800 tons per year, according to the plan.
The project was agreed in a memorandum of cooperation signed last July at the Environment and Energy Ministry, the French Embassy and six companies participating in the project: PPC, which covered the cost of equipment for the construction of the photovoltaic station and installed four charging systems for PPC blue electric vehicles on the island; Akuo Energy and Omexom/Vinci Energies, which were responsible for licensing, developing and constructing the photovoltaic park; Vodafone Greece and ALD Automotive.
The event will be attended by Environment and Energy Minister Costas Skrekas, the Secretary General of Energy and Mineral Resources Alexandra Sdoukou, the Ambassador of France to Greece, Patrick Maisonnave and other officials.
