Greece to ‘Green’ their way out of recession

A nationwide solar initiative worth $20 billion could be in place by the end of the year, according to the Greek Ministry of Energy. Project Helios is planned to bring 2,200MW of solar capacity by 2020 and 10,000 MW by 2050.

The country, located in an ideal latitude for solar energy production, has 300 days of sunshine per year and could use the new capacity to supply Germany, which is going nuclear free over the coming years and will need to plug the hole in its energy supply.

Greece has a public debt of $469.8 billion, which is almost one and a half times GDP and one of the lowest credit ratings in Europe. It entered the Eurozone in 2001, but now has an unemployment rate of around 17% and has around a fifth of the population living below the poverty line.

Unfortunately, planning red tape still has to be overcome before this can be a reality and Greece is starting from a very small solar base (it currently has an 80% smaller solar energy output than Germany). Despite the precarious nature of Greece’s economy, projects such of this will be essential in creating better, greener energy in the Mediterranean.