Efi Karra represented ELETAEN in the “Greek offshore renewable energy conference 2024″

Monday, 2 December 2024

Efi Karra, the Sustainability and Policy Advocacy Officer of ELETAEN, has spoken for offshore wind at  the  “Greek offshore renewable energy conference 2024”, organized by “Bluesign” on November 14th 2024, in Athens.

Μs. Karra referred to the European wind energy expansion targets and analyzed how offshore wind development can empower Greece. She outlined the challenges that must be faced throughout the supply chain and emphasized in the need for a trained workforce:

“Europe is now looking at higher new wind energy expansion targets. The EU wants to have 425 GW of wind energy by 2030.

The massive development of onshore and offshore wind potential is a crucial pylon for the Greek energy policy and, above all, for its dynamic contribution to Europe’s energy security. This way, wind energy can also contribute to the stability, the security and peace in the broader region.

The target for wind in the new updated National and Energy Climate Plan is 10.8 GW for 2030. Of course we believe that we need more, but we recognize that this is increased compared to the previous target. Out of this, 1.9 GW should be offshore wind.

Europe is investing a lot in offshore wind. But there is still a strong focus on the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. It’s time for offshore wind in the Mediterranean to kick off!

Offshore wind development can be a game changer for Greece as it provides significant competitive advantages:

• massive wind MWs without conflicts with other human activities,
• it supports the establishment of a significant local supply chain, providing added value to the local Greek economy,
• it will lead to strengthening the country from a geostrategic point of view,
• it will make Greece producer & exporter of green energy.

The mentioned growth target, comes with challenges along the supply chain. It requires massive investments in electricity grids, vessels, logistics and ports. The early mobilization of the supply chain actors, in particular ports and shipyards, in terms of permitting actions and infrastructure investments, is critical for maximizing the domestic added value of offshore wind development. In comparison with the North and Baltic Sea, the Greek waters have some particularities such as deep-sea waters with gentle waves conditions and smoother loads for the floaters and the wind turbines. Therefore, further research and development may lead to a cheaper and more effective floater design, which will be suitable for the characteristics of the Mediterranean sea (and, in general, the waters with similar met-ocean conditions.)

It is also important to allocate human resources in order to have a trained workforce to produce, transport and install the major technical components required for an offshore wind farm.

As an Association we strongly support the development of OW and the associated local supply chain. As you may know, ELETAEN has organized several workshops and business missions during the last years. As an example, in November 2023, we organized a conference on the challenges and prospects for the development of the domestic supply chain for Offshore Wind, in collaboration with the Norwegian Offshore Wind cluster. For the first time, companies from the entire supply chain for OW, have come together in the same venue to meet each other, exchange experiences and know-how and consider how to plan their next steps.

A key conclusion was that there are many challenges for the development of the domestic supply chain for OW, but – at the same time – there are significant potential and opportunities. We are very proud because as a result of these actions, at least one business collaboration has been established between the Greek steel company Lykomitros and Archer Wind, a technology provider and developer. In fact, they have reached an agreement for a first order of floaters, highlighting the available opportunities to the domestic industry.

The race for offshore wind in the Mediterranean is on and Greece must not fall behind!

The Greek Government has to accelerate the actual implementation of the offshore wind development plan, prepared by the Ministry and HEREMA and  also  to allocate the required recourses to HEREMA for this purpose. In this way, we will keep the interest of potential investors high.”