The roadmap for offshore wind farms

The first offshore wind farms in Greece are expected to start construction from 2028 onwards, provided the necessary institutional interventions are implemented.

The first offshore concessions for the development of floating or fixed base wind turbines will be in Thrace and Crete.

The above emerged from yesterday’s conference organized by the Hellenic Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources Management Company (EDEFEP), ELETAEN (wind power producers union) and Grant Thornton.

During the event, the general secretary of Energy and Mineral Raw Materials, Alexandra Sdoukou, announced that the first priority for the first round of marine land concessions for wind farms is Crete and one or two other areas. She repeated the provision of the law for the pilot block concession off Alexandroupolis.

The managing director of EDEYEP Aris Stefatos presented the schedule of initiatives and subsequent institutional interventions for the determination of concessions and tenders.

The roadmap

According to the roadmap, the National Offshore Wind Farm Development Plan is expected to be completed in May 2023, while in the third quarter of the same year, the submission of the technical studies for the determination of the organized marine offshore wind farms is expected.

In the first quarter of 2024, the presidential decree on organized parks will be issued.

In the first and second quarters of the same year, the submission and acceptance of the applications of prospective investors for the first round of concessions and the issuance of research permits is expected.

From the third quarter of 2024 to the third quarter of 2026, the investigations of the prospective investors in the marine concessions will be conducted.

The third to fourth quarter of 2026 will be followed by the public consultation on the installation areas of offshore wind farms and at the end of the same year the maximum power generation capacity will be clarified and determined

In the first quarter of 2027, Regulatory Authoity for Energy’s tender for the compensation of power producers will be announced.

In the first quarter of 2028, the results of the tenders will be finalized, the licenses will be issued and the connection contracts will be signed. In the third quarter of this year, the construction of the offshore wind farms will begin.

Investments

Ms. Sdoukou reiterated the goal of developing offshore wind farms with a total capacity of 2 GW by 2030.

The same study cited by Grant Thornton said that investments are estimated at 6.4 billion. euros including the entire chain of projects and the contribution to the economy, while it is possible that over 8,000 jobs will be created.