Greece
Greece
H.E Kostas Skrekas
Minister of Environment and Energy
Ms. Alexandra Sdoukou
Secretary General for Energy & Mineral Resources
THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC
Location Description
Greece is the southernmost country in Europe. Greece is bordered to the east by the Aegean Sea, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea, and to the west by the Ionian Sea. Only to the north and northeast does it have land borders (totaling some 1,180 km), with, from west to east, Albania, the Republic of North Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Turkey.
Geographical Information
The central mountain range, the Pindos Mountains, forms the core of mainland Greece. The northernmost part consists of Macedonia and Thrace (with offshore islands) and is an east-west band between the Aegean coast and the frontier with the countries of North Macedonia and Bulgaria. Eastern Greece comprises of Thessaly and Attika with offshore islands (Athens, the capital city is in Attika). The entire southern portion of mainland Greece forms a peninsula and is named the Peloponnese. Western Greece consists of Epirus and Acarnania, which is the area to the Albanian frontier, and includes the offshore Ionian Islands. The Aegean Islands are the group of islands in the Aegean Sea, with mainland Greece to the west and north and Turkey to the east. The island of Crete delimits the sea to the south.
General Information (Capital, Language, Religion, Currency,...etc.)
Capital: Athens.
Language: Greek.
Religion: According to the Constitution of Greece (article 3) the main religion in Greece is the religion of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ.
Currency: EURO (as of 2001).
Member of the European Union since 1981 (former E.E.C.).
Political Regime
Greece (Hellas), officially the Hellenic Republic is a Parliamentary Republic. The Hellenic Republic is a unitary State organised on a decentralised basis; it comprises two levels of governance, the central – state governance and the local self-government. The President, (H.E. Katerina Sakellaropoulou), is elected by Parliament every five years as the Head of State. The President of the Republic has limited political power, as most power lies with the government, her duties include formally appointing the Prime Minister, on whose recommendation he also appoints or dismisses other members of government, she represents the State in its relations to other States, proclaims referendums etc. The Prime Minister is the Head of Government. The Hellenic Parliament is the supreme democratic institution that represents the citizens through an elected body of Members of Parliament, whose core activity is legislative work and the exercise of control over Government. It consists of 300 Deputies, elected through direct, universal, secret and simultaneous ballot, for a term of four years, by citizens who are eligible to vote. Voting is compulsory. Legislative power is exercised by Parliament and the President of the Republic. Executive power is exercised by the President of the Republic and the Government. Judicial power is vested in the courts of law, whose decisions are executed in the name of the people.
Brief on the Economy
The economy of Greece is the 51st largest in the world with a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of $209.853 billion per annum. In terms of purchasing power parity, Greece is the world’s 53rd largest economy, at $348.349 billion per annum. As of 2019, Greece is the sixteenth-largest economy in the 27-member European Union. According to IMF figures for 2020, Greece’s GDP per capita was $17,670 at nominal value and $28,748 at purchasing power parity. Greece is a developed country with an economy based on the service (80%) and industrial sectors (16%), with the agricultural sector contributing an estimated 4% of national economic output in 2017. Important Greek industries include tourism and shipping. The Greek Merchant Navy is the largest in the world, with Greek-owned vessels accounting for 15% of global deadweight tonnage as of 2013. The increased demand for international maritime transportation between Greece and Asia has resulted in unprecedented investment in the shipping industry
Brief on the Energy Sector
Greece is currently implementing comprehensive energy sector reforms towards creating competitive energy markets. The reforms will reveal opportunities for investors and for transformation of the energy system, thereby providing sustainable outcomes for the environment and for Greek society. A key reform in restructuring the internal market in electricity consists in reducing domestic lignite-fuelled power generation through the scheduled shutdown of all lignite-fired plants by 2028. Safe and efficient system operation in accordance with the new power generation mix, where RES plants will play a dominant role, will be possible by reorganising the markets in electricity and natural gas and coupling them with those of other Member States. In this direction, Greece is promoting measures to harmonise the domestic markets in electricity and natural gas with the EU directives and regulations on the markets in electricity and natural gas (target model). Greece is promoting the setup of storage systems with RES plants on smaller islands that will retain their autonomous operation by applying pilot modes of operation and using management to achieve RES penetration levels of over 60%. In line with the electricity market, Greece also aims to integrate the natural gas market and strengthen the participation of the storage and demand response systems of the gas market, while promoting, through the construction of new cross-border natural gas transport projects, the reorganisation of the gas market, the strengthening of the gas transmission network with new storage tanks and the implementation of market participation policies for large customers in the gas market through demand restraint orders, thus reducing energy costs and increasing adequate capacity and energy in Greece.
Major Indicators:
Land (Sq.km): Greece, total – 132,049 km2 .
Population: 10.72 million (2019) Eurostat.
Time Zone: EEST (GMT +3).
GDP -Gross domestic product: 209.9 billion USD (2019) World Bank.
GDP per capita (Current US$): 17,492.614 (2019) World Bank.
GDP growth (Percentage):2.028% (2019) World Bank.
Proven natural gas reserves: Greece holds 0,991km³, ranking 96th in the world.
(Data: 2018 – U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics).
Domestic natural gas data for the year 2020:
Demand: 5,5 bcm
Net import dependency: 100%
LNG Imports as share of demand: 52,8%
Sectoral Demand Distribution:
Electricity Generation: 3,6 bcm
Distribution/Household Demand: 1
Industry and CNG: 0,9
(Data: The Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator /DESFA S.A).
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