The European Commission (EC) has authorised €1 billion ($1.08 billion) in Greek state aid to help fund the development of two solar-plus-storage projects. The total capacity of these projects, which will improve the reliability of the Greek electrical grid, is 813 MW. By mid-2025, construction will be finished.
The first project, Faethon, has proposals to build two 252 MW solar installations. The solar facilities will be supplemented with molten-salt thermal storage units and an extra-high voltage substation. During the day, Faethon will produce electricity and store any extra energy that can be used to create electricity again at periods of high demand.
The second project is a 309 MW solar facility called the Seli Project, which is powered by an energy storage system made of lithium-ion batteries. Seli will supplement Faethon by supplying Greece with 1.2 terawatt-hours of renewable energy per year, or 2.1 per cent of the country’s total electricity production in 2020. Greece would produce 8% more renewable energy as a result of the projects than it did in 2020.
