The pivotal role of energy in the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience and the need for investments in production was the subject of a special study by IENE, which was presented at an online event organized by the Institute of Energy for SE Europe (IENE) on Wednesday (20/10).The pivotal role of energy in the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience and the need for investments in production was the subject of a special study by IENE, which was presented at an online event organized by the Institute of Energy for SE Europe (IENE) on Wednesday (20/10).
The event began with a short introduction by the Chairman and Executive Director of IENE, Costis Stampolis, who referred to the initiative of the Institute to prepare a special study on the need for investments in Greek industry, so that they boost domestic production in parallel with the investments and projects that will run through the Recovery Plan. The study was then presented by Irini Terzidou, Scientific Associate and Research Fellow of IENE, which highlighted the resounding absence from the subsidized investments of "Greece 2.0", the Greek industry of production of components / systems for RES projects and infrastructure projects, which could play a catalytic role in the creation of domestic know-how, employment, and domestic added value. (You may see the presentation here)
The discussion that followed featured Thomais Eftychidou, Secretary General of Industry of the Ministry of Development and Investment, Athanasios Savvakis, President of the Federation of Industries of Greece and the Hellenic Energy Exchange, Stelios Psomas, Advisor of the Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic Companies and Christos Dimas, Member of the Board and Chairman of the Geopolitics Committee of IENE. The discussion was moderated by Costis Stampolis, Chairman of IENE.
Taking the floor, Ms. Eftychidou stressed that, in terms of government policy, emphasis has been given on hydrogen, where there is a target for specific projects through Projects of Common Interest (PCI’s). This does not deprive the possibility of expanding the scope of industrial production to cover products and systems of the energy sector and especially of RES.
This was followed by a statement by Mr. Savvakis, who stated that the energy transition gives the opportunity to create infrastructure, expand industrial production and increase domestic added value. With regard to energy sector products, there is indeed the possibility of upgrading industrial production, e.g., from 15% of domestic value added today to 30%, attracting investments of 4 billion over the next 10 years.
For his part, Mr. Psomas made it clear that today the whole of Europe is difficult to compete with China, referring specifically to equipment for photovoltaic projects. This does not mean that there is no potential for increasing domestic added value in RES products, but targeted moves should be made to have a positive result.
Last speaker, Mr. Dimas pointed out the need to adjust the spatial framework for RES, which is late, but will facilitate applications and therefore will create opportunities for domestic industry to produce products for RES projects. A discussion followed with useful conclusions which will be announced soon by IENE with a special post on its website (www.iene.gr).
The full IENE study is available here.
