Greece did not record any progress in its renewable energy sources (RES) market in the last quarter of 2006, but places as high as eighth among the 20 national RES markets monitored by Ernst & Young.
“The use of RES in Greece is on the right track, even though it could have accelerated more,” suggests Alexandros Fourlas, CFA senior manager of Ernst & Young, responsible for the energy sector.
According to the “Country Attractiveness Indices” report, which evaluates RES infrastructures and their capacity for the use of specific technologies, on the chart of the Renewable Energy General Index which measures solar, wind power and biomass energy technologies, Greece lies eighth with 56 points out of a maximum of 100 points for Q4 of 2006. The chart is topped by the USA with 72 points, followed by Spain and India, each with 63 points.
On the Wind Power Energy Index, Greece lies eighth again, with 58 points, just as it did in Q3. The USA (73), India (64), Spain (63) and the UK (63) are the leaders. In solar energy, Greece came ninth in Q4 with 53 points, with the USA, (75), Germany (72) and Spain (71) leading. In contrast, Greece is a disappointing 16th among 20 countries in the use of biomass fuels and other RES, with just 43 points. The USA is again on top with 64 points, ahead of Germany (60) and the UK (57).
Greece is 11th with 59 points on the RES Infrastructure index, which assesses the overall regulatory framework of every RES market. The top three on this index chart are the USA (76), Spain (74) and the UK (66).
“Greece has overcome many of the past problems that classified it among the countries with the lowest development of RES internationally, although the natural resources it has would allow it to overtake many of the countries that were the pioneers in this domain,” comments Fourlas.
“Today the new challenge for Greece is the further development of its wind power potential, the use of its immense solar energy potential and of biomass. This is a national wealth of utmost significance and even though it is constantly renewable, it is wasted every day it remains unused,” he adds.
The regular evaluation by Ernst & Young, he says, shows that the countries that place emphasis on the development of RES as a strategic target achieve the best results, regardless of the actual availability of the natural resources they have to work with. “It is high time we realized this in Greece, too, across all the bodies involved and society in general,” Fourlas concluded.
(Kathimerini, 14/03/2007)