The strategic role of wind potential of Greece for the Energy Security
Thursday, 19 April 2018
The strategic role of wind potential of Greece for the Energy Security The massive development of Renewable Energy Sources, including in particular the development of the onshore and offshore wind potential of the Aegean Sea, is a crucial pylon for the Greek energy policy and, above all, for its dynamic contribution to Europe’s energy security.
This dimension i.e. Greece’s contribution to European energy independence, must be dominant in the National Energy Planning because it is linked to the country’s foreign policy and the stability, the security and the peace of the broader region. The introduction of a plan that will make the wind potential of the Aegean Sea another important source of energy for Europe, allows Greece:
1. To strengthen its geopolitical importance.
2. To be strategically positioned in the general energy dialogue in SE Europe and the SE Mediterranean, contributing tangible benefits to European policy.
3. To enrich and strengthen the energy dimension of its foreign policy. Specifically, Greece has developed two relevant policy axes till today:
a) promoting exploration of indigenous hydrocarbons
b) becoming an energy transit area either through the so-called pipelines policy or through recent cable projects within the Mediterranean Sea.
With the exception of some specific projects, both these axes are at least long-term and uncertain. Therefore, instead of exclusively emphasizing on the above axes, Greece should also turn its attention to its only definite energy resource, i.e. its wind potential, especially this of the Aegean Sea, onshore and offshore.
4. To attract European funding and investors for the development of large investments for operating assets and the necessary network infrastructures, the latter both within its border and within the broader Balkan area.
