At the end of 2024, the wind power connected to the grid reached 5,355 megawatts (MW), according to the annual statistics of wind energy in Greece by ELETAEN.

Based on the statistics, 39 new wind turbines were connected to the grid in 2024, with a total attributable capacity of 125.5 MW, corresponding to investments totalling EUR 150 million. This represents an increase of 2.4% compared to the end of 2023.

Two factors

This is a decrease in the growth rate, which remains positive, which according to the association is due to a combination of two factors:

1. The previous year (2023) was the second-best year for wind power in Greece because many new wind farms were completed and connected. Similarly, the next year (2025) is expected to be much more positive because many new wind investments are currently being built or have been contracted and will be completed in the coming months. It is therefore estimated that the 2024 lag may also be due to cyclical investment timing factors.
2. A significant factor remains the delay due to bureaucratic hurdles and the frequent inability of agencies to properly implement the provisions and deadlines of the permitting legislation. As a result, wind farms face a permitting regime that is clearly worse than that of other technologies.

According to ELETAEN, at the end of 2024, over 1.1 GW of new wind farms were under construction or contracted, the vast majority of which are expected to be connected to the grid within the next 18 months.

To these should be added another 300 MW or so that have been selected in tenders, have submitted performance guarantees, but do not belong to any of the above categories. As a result, the total wind capacity will exceed 6.5 GW within the next two years.

Central Greece at the top

At regional level, Central Greece remains at the top of the list of wind installations as it hosts 2,346 MW (44%), followed by the Peloponnese with 667 MW (12%) and Eastern Macedonia-Thrace where 535 MW (10%) are located.

In terms of business groups, the top 5 are:

• TERNA Energy with 1,034 MW (19.3%)
• MORE with 766 MW (14.3%)
• Iberdrola Rokas with 409 MW (7.6%)
• Principia with 368 MW (6,8%) and
• PPC Renewables with 276 MW (5.2%)

They are followed by Total Energies, EDF, METLEN, Jasper Energy, Cubico, HeliQ Energy, etc.

The picture for wind turbine manufacturers is as follows: Vestas has supplied 44.7% of the total attributable wind power in Greece. Enercon follows with 25.8%, Siemens Gamesa with 16.8%, Nordex with 7.3%, and GE Renewable Energy with 3.8%. Smaller shares are held by EWT, Goldwind and Leitwind.

The picture for the hourly wind energy shares in the system in 2024 is as follows:

• the highest hourly penetration of wind power was 90.3% and was observed on Monday, 08.04.2024 (03:00–04:00)
• for a total of 2,575 hours of the year, the wind power penetration was over 30% of the energy demand
• for a total of 5,253 hours, the penetration of wind and photovoltaic power was over 30% and for 2,618 hours it was over 60%
• Total hourly penetration of wind and PV exceeded 100% of demand for 306 hours in 2024.