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EUNICE ENERGY GROUP (EEG) at the Economist Conference – EU Recovery and Resilience Fund For Greece.

  • The storage projects developed by the EUNICE ENERGY GROUP (EEG) in Western Macedonia and in Megalopoli (Arcadia) are key to support the electricity network during the lignite phase-out.
  • Projects of significant domestic added value, with immediate and tangible benefits for the local and national economy, both during construction and operation, as all subsystems included in the project are produced in Greece.
  • The existence of such stabilization mechanisms for storage systems is a prerequisite for the adoption of the target model in the energy market.
  • The technologies of virtual power plants (VPP) based on distributed fixed storage units, act adjunctively to the stability of the electrical system, together with the central storage system of the EUNICE ENERGY GROUP (EEG), offering large reserves of energy management to the administrator.

 

On Wednesday, 09.12.2020, an online Economist Event was held entitled “EU RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE FUND FOR GREECE: European Green Deal – Digital transformation – Infrastructure“, in which the EUNICE ENERGY GROUP (EEG) participated as a Gold Sponsor, represented by Dr. Giorgios Pechlivanoglou, Executive Director of the Group and Chairman of the Wind Energy Committee – ASME.

Mr. Pechlivanoglou, participating in the section “European Green Deal: Short-Term And Long-Term Gains For The Environment, The Economy And The Citizens”, referred to the opportunities created in the energy investment environment, presenting two very important projects proposed by the Group EUNICE ENERGY GROUP (EEG) for energy in the regions of Western Macedonia and Megalopoli with a total power of 250MW each and a total storage capacity (battery capacity) of 1,000 MWh each, as a solution for central and decentralized energy storage.

In detail, Mr. Pechlivanoglou stated in his presentation:

“Central storage in the regions of Western Macedonia and Megalopoli, but also in the wider Greek electricity network, is of extreme importance. The government’s decision to phase out the country’s lignite and coal production in the short term creates an urgent need for a suitable infrastructure to regulate and support the network.

The Ptolemaida Storage project developed by the EUNICE ENERGY GROUP (EEG) has been included in the final list of ENTSO-e (TYNDP) 2020 of the European Union (https://tyndp2020-project-platform.azurewebsites.net/projectsheets/storage/1035) and is candidate for inclusion in the Projects of Common Interest (PCI) 2021 of the European Commission. Moreover, it has been included in the 16 emblematic projects for the lignite phase-out, contributing positively to the drastic increase of RES penetration.

This is a project with a significant 100% domestic added value, with immediate and tangible benefits for the local and national economy, both during construction and operation, as the lithium battery and other subsystems are produced in our country. Already, in the region of Western Macedonia, enterprise expansions are being made for the production of Li-ion battery technology.

The new storage technologies are Greek added value. The storage projects of the EUNICE ENERGY GROUP (EEG) offer strengthening of local employment with new jobs, contribute to the National Development Plan, and place Greek entrepreneurship and Greek know-how at the forefront of international technological energy developments.

The opportuinites offered by the adoption of such systems of high flexibility of central storage are immense:

  • Increased network stability
  • Enhanced possibility to integrate a large percentage of RES in the network
  • Realization of primary and secondary voltage and frequency adjustment in the network
  • Utilization of the existing network infrastructure in the area
  • Increased support of the electric system in the region, but also in Northern Greece, while at the same time the system is strengthened in the Southern country, in the Peloponnese, eliminating network downtimes
  • Increased electricity exports to Italy and all Balkan countries

 

At the same time, the “Exoikonomo-Aftonomo” (“Saving and Autonomy”) program that was adopted by the Ministry of Energy allows the development of many small storage systems distributed throughout the low voltage network. These distributed storage systems, controlled by a central cloud-based  IoT platform, can operate as a virtual power plant and assist in the stabilization of the network and the introduction of RES in the low voltage network.

Another important initiative by the Ministry which is supported by the EUNICE ENERGY GROUP (EEG), is the coal phase-out of the islands. The group develops projects for hybrid stations, starting with the successful and award-winning project of Tilos, and with the emblematic AIGAIO Project, which includes the development of a 582 MW wind farm and its interconnection with not only with Athens and Crete, but also to the Dodecanese, ensuring that an abundance of green energy becomes available to these islands.

In conclusion, it is important to note that the adoption of the target model in the energy market, prerequires the existence of stabilization mechanisms for storage systems – and especially storage systems with battery technology – in order to keep energy prices at low levels. Greece offers ample space to create such storage infrastructures. The related investments are very important for our country, especially when taking into account that the batteries are assembled and producted by Greek hands and Greek minds, offering high domestic added value with great benefits for the economy, growth and employment.”

Watch the video of the whole conference below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySRSZQ0xIfg&feature=emb_logo

You can watch the presentation by G. Pechlivanoglou in the section of the Conference on “European Green Deal: short-term and long-term gains for the environment, the economy and the citizens” at:  4:37:57 – 7:07:39.