The energy market set new records in 2023 achieving an increase in the penetration of renewable sources but also a decrease in consumption despite the growth of the economy and the decline in prices in relation to the peak of the energy crisis.

As the president and managing director of ADMIE Manos Manousakis told the Athens Agency, last year “green” production, together with large hydroelectric plants, was 57% of the total (47.9% RES and 9.09% hydroelectric), breaking the previous record of 2022. Performance due both to investments in new electricity generation units from renewable sources, and to the development of new networks required for the circulation of “green” energy.

In total, according to the data of the Administrators processed by Green Tank and presented by APE-MPE, in 2023 the energy market achieved 16 new milestones which – apart from the reduction in consumption – are mainly related to the increase in the participation of renewable energy sources, limiting the participation of mineral resources in the energy balance, the corresponding increase in renewable energy sources and the shift of consumers towards self-generated energy solutions. Indicatively, the domestic consumption of natural gas decreased in 2023 by 10.1%, the demand for electricity in the 11th month was reduced by 2.9% (it is typical that the demand for electricity was lower even compared to the corresponding period in 2020, the first year of the pandemic when the quarantine was implemented), while the consumption of liquid fuels (petrol and diesel) was also reduced by 7%, according to the data of the Association of Petroleum Trading Companies (SEEPE).

As the analyst told APE-MBE of energy policy of Green Tank, Nikos Mantzaris: “Despite the de-escalation of energy prices in 2023, Greece continued to reduce both electricity and gas consumption. This trend combined with the continued development of RES, especially by citizens through self-generation systems, consolidates the changes in energy behavior that began during the crisis and is a hope for a more decisive shift of the country’s energy model towards sustainability” .

In detail, developments by sector of the energy market according to Green Tank’s analysis are coded as follows:

Power generation

Until December 2023:

1) 672 hours (or 28 days or 7.67% of the year) Greece operated without any lignite.

2) Lignite production in 2023 was the lowest since the 1970s. It contributed just 4.5 TWh, an amount 15% less than the previous low of 5.3 TWh in 2021.

3) The “plunge” of mineral gas in power generation continued for the second year in a row and with 14.7 TWh returning almost to the levels of 2018 (14.1 TWh).

4) Lignite and natural gas together provided 4.3 less TWh of electricity than in 2022 marking a record low cumulative contribution of 19.2 TWh.

By November 2023:

5) The shares of lignite in power generation (9.9%) and demand coverage (8.9%) broke the 10% “barrier” for the first time.

6) Clean energy (RES and large hydro) with 23.2 TWh covered for the first time more than half of the demand (51.2%) and 57% of the electricity generation.

7) The contribution of RES alone (19.6 TWh) exceeded that of natural gas and lignite together (17.5 TWh) for the first time.

8) The demand for electricity (45.3 TWh) was the lowest of the decade, even lower than that of the first year of the pandemic in 2020.

Shows

By November 2023:

9) Emissions of the entire Greek power sector, including oil plants on the non-interconnected islands, hit a record low of 13.35 million tons of CO2, 23% less than the previous low of 17.3 million tons in 2022.

10) PPC thermal units in particular reduced their carbon footprint to 10.2 million tons of CO2, a performance 25% lower than the 13.6 million tons in the same period of 2022.

Mineral Gas

Until December 2023:

11) Total natural gas consumption was 50.9 TWh, the second lowest in six years (50.4 TWh in 2018). It decreased by 10.1% compared to 2022 and by 27.2% compared to 2021, the year the energy crisis began.

12) In electricity (34.54 TWh) and distribution networks (11.19 TWh) the use of gas decreased in 2023 compared to 2022 (-17.1% and -8.1% respectively). In contrast, the use in industry (5.18 TWh) increased significantly (+84.7%) compared to 2022, remaining however 27.8% lower than the five-year average.

13) 1st natural gas source is LNG from the entry gate in Revythoussa with 29.49 TWh (54.7%), 2nd Russian gas from the Sidirokastro gate with 14.71 TWh (27.3%).

14) Large increase in Russian gas imports in 2023. Russian gas was responsible for 42.8% of the country’s total imports which entered the country not only from the Turkstream pipeline (14.71 TWh) but also in the form of LNG at the gate of the Holy Trinity (8.38 TWh).

Self-production & Energy Communities

Until December 2023:

15) Doubling of electrified power in self-production as a whole (by citizens, municipalities, farmers, energy communities and other agencies) within one year. In 2023 the electrified power of self-generation projects reached 421.3 MW (216.9 MW by 2022, 100.2 MW by 2021, 53.2 MW by 2020, 33.8 MW by 2019).

16) Especially the electrified power of self-generation projects from energy communities tripled from 4.2 MW at the end of 2022 to 14 MW in 2023 (1.2 MW by 2021, 0.03 MW by 2020).

Finally, in the petroleum market, a decrease in consumption by 7% is recorded, which is due to the reduction in the demand for heating oil by 32%. On the contrary, according to SEEPE data, the demand for gasoline (which is also due to the increase in tourist traffic) increased by 4% and for diesel traffic by 3%.