The production of electricity from Renewable sources during the first half of 2024, during which our country achieved better performance in terms of “greening” the energy mix compared to the EU.

In particular, according to the first data of ADMIE for electricity production in the period January – June (May – June data have not been certified) RES (wind, photovoltaic and hydroelectric) covered the 58.1 % of electricity production while the rest was covered by the natural gas (35.6%) and lignite (6.2%) units.

This year’s performance is close to the levels of 2023, when RES accounted for 58.8% of production, despite the fact that in the meantime tens of megawatts of new RES, mainly photovoltaics, have been added to the country’s production capacity.

Sources from the renewable sources sector attribute the development to the fact that the increase in production capacity is not accompanied by a corresponding increase in electricity demand, especially during the hours when RES production is maximized. Thus, for reasons of system stability, network managers proceed with cuts in “green” production which – according to the same sources – at certain times of the day reach up to double-digit percentages.

Similar are the developments in European market of electricity, where RES are gaining ground but it is observed decrease in demand. According to data released by Eurelectric last week, clean electricity generation in the EU in the first half of 2024 hit a record, reaching 45.66% (including hydro, photovoltaics, onshore and offshore wind), falling short of relation to the Greek performance. According to Eurelectric, which represents the European electricity industry, “the main reasons behind this remarkable result were the unprecedented influx of renewables into the grid combined with the stabilization of the nuclear fleet.”

He adds however that: “While the supply-side numbers are promising, the same cannot be said for electricity demand. In the first half of 2023 electricity demand in the EU fell by 5.1% compared to same period of 2022 and continued to remain low in 2024 – 4.8% lower than the first half of 2022. This trend is mainly due to the relocation of industry abroad, higher temperatures, energy conservation and slow economic growth ‘.

For this reason, Eurelectric recommends to the new European Commission the immediate implementation of a plan to electrify the economy.