Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited the new PPC “Ptolemaida 5” power station on Tuesday, as part of his two-day tour of the Region of Western Macedonia.

“It is a very important, a very important project for the country’s energy security, for PPC, a project with significant domestic added value,” the Prime Minister emphasized during his visit.

“This unit will be a strategic reserve unit for the country in the future, but it is a unit which I would say closes a cycle of almost 70 years of PPC presence here in the Ptolemaida region. It will operate for many years to come in this form and will certainly continue to provide jobs for many years to come, not only to the workers in the unit, but also to those who work in the mines that will supply this unit with lignite.”

“The strategy of the transition to a green future is a given and I would say it is also non-negotiable. But at the same time we must not forget the importance we attach to the country’s strategic sufficiency in domestic fuels”, Kyriakos Mitsotakis also pointed out.

The Prime Minister congratulated the company’s management for its recovery and its participation in the green transition: “It is a strategy that is being served today by PPC itself, which in turn is making its own transition towards a greener future, investing significantly in renewable energy units, such as the large photovoltaic park which is being built near this unit,” said Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“I don’t think I need to explain here, in Western Macedonia, what a potential bankruptcy of PPC would mean for the local economy, apart from the disastrous effects it would have overall for the country’s energy security. Not only did we prevent this possibility, but we really achieved something very impressive, by adding capital to PPC and enabling it today to be able to discuss important investments outside of Greece”, noted the Prime Minister.

“Ptolemaida 5”: 43% more energy with 7% less fuel

“Ptolemaida 5”, with a capacity of 660 MW, is the most modern and efficient lignite unit available in Greece. Thanks to the use of the best technologies in its design, it is able to compete with units that use natural gas, with the lowest possible carbon dioxide emissions, while it can produce 43% more energy with 7% less fuel consumption.

The new unit will contribute to the shielding of Greece’s energy security, especially given the challenges to Europe’s energy supply caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, without affecting the steady implementation of the green transition.

With the operation of “Ptolemaida 5” 800 new jobs are created in the area, while 2,000 people were employed in its construction and more than 100 Greek companies participated.

The unit is undergoing a period of trial operation and is expected to be fully integrated into the grid within the next three months, having the ability to provide thermal energy for the district heating of the city of Ptolemaida.

“The development of the economy allows the support of our fellow citizens”

Earlier, the Prime Minister visited Florina, where he was welcomed by citizens and friends of New Democracy.

“I am proud, friends, because our central pre-election commitments, as presented here by me in Western Macedonia, have been implemented. Before the election I had told you some very specific things: I had told you that I would reduce the taxes that Tsipras imposed on you when he crushed the middle class and I reduced them. I told you that I will make Greece an attractive investment destination again and we will create many new jobs and we have succeeded”, noted Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“Especially here, for Western Macedonia, you know that I fought hard in Brussels to secure additional resources to implement the just transition plan. Kozani and Florina are currently the areas that are potentially the most benefited in terms of subsidies to be able to attract new investments and to keep the new kids here, who want to stay in their place, live and succeed here .

And I had the opportunity yesterday to present in Kozani an overall plan of 4 billion euros for how we perceive the future of Western Macedonia. And I think that here – you know this in Florina – a lot of things happened for your country, much more than had been done for a long time”, pointed out the Prime Minister.

“If the economy didn’t have the performance it has – I want to remind you that today we are one of the fastest growing economies in the eurozone – we wouldn’t have the financial ability to support our fellow citizens today. This fiscal possibility that we have is the product of development”, emphasized Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

As part of his tour, the Prime Minister also visited the “Alfa” wine estate, where he was given a tour of the facilities and was informed about the production stages of the 14 varieties of wine that are produced.

The Prime Minister was accompanied on his tour by the Minister of Environment and Energy Kostas Skrekas, the Deputy Minister of Development and Investments Nikos Papathanasis, the Deputy Minister of the Interior responsible for Macedonia – Thrace issues Stavros Kalafatis, the Deputy Minister responsible for Transport and Member of Parliament for Kozani of the New Democracy Michalis Papadopoulos, the Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister and Government Spokesman Yannis Oikonomou, the General Secretary of Energy and Mineral Raw Materials Alexandra Sdoukou, the MPs of Kozani of the ND Stathis Konstantinidis, Paraskevi Vryzidou and George Amanatidis, the MP of Florina of the ND Yiannis Antoniadis, the MP of Kastoria of the ND Zisi Tzikalayas and the Regional Governor of Western Macedonia Giorgos Kasapidis.