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Greek island of Santorini partners with PPC Renewables on geothermal project

Greek island of Santorini partners with PPC Renewables on geothermal project See view, Santorini, Greece (source: flickr/ Maggie Meng, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 19 Jan 2018

The municipality of the Greek island of Santorini, the Ministry of Agean and Island Policy and PPC Renewables have signed a cooperation agreement on the development of waste management facilities and a geothermal power project for the island.

In a press conference on the Greek island of Santorini, the CEO of PPC Renewables and Nikos Zorzos, the mayor of  the island, announced a partnership on the construction of a waste management and energy production facility and the exploitation of a geothermal field on the island following exploration work. This is done in cooperation with the Municipality of Santorini and the Ministry of the Aegean and Island Policy.

According to the mayor’s report, the island’s turbulent tourism has led to a 50% rise in electricity consumption since 2013, when the multi-day blackout (from 32 to 48 MW) has taken place, while water consumption has doubled in the large settlements and has fivefold in Akrotiri. Also, waste generation has exceeded 20,000 tonnes per year. For both issues (waste and geothermal energy), a MOU on cooperation between the municipality, PPC Renewable and the Ministry of Island Policy has been signed.

For waste, the expropriation of the area where the Urban Waste Management and Power Production Unit will be installed, with the use of waste after recycling, composting, etc., is pending. The timetable foresees the launch of a tender in 2019 and the operation of the plant by 2021.

For the geothermal energy part of the agreement, the next step will be to conduct surface surveys and drills to investigate the geothermal potential of the island. There are, however, studies by IGME that have identified a low temperature field in southern Santorini. As Monachoias pointed out, geothermal energy is the most reliable solution for the electrification of Santorini (as well as the islands with such fields), as opposed to wind and photovoltaic as it is available 24 hours a day. It can also be used for power generation, heating, cooling, seawater desalination and use for hot springs.

In the case of the installation of a 5 MW power station, the Municipality of Santorini will have a benefit of around EUR 100,000 ($122k) per year, while an amount equal to 1% of the value of the generated energy of about EUR 58,000 ($71k) per year will be made available for the reduction of electricity consumption bills of the inhabitants of Santorini.

Source: EPT Greece