Greece’s PPC Renewables to boost Astypalaia island’s self-sufficiency with hybrid power plant

Photo: IMFJ / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode Retrieved from balkangreenenergynews.com

A 3.5 MW photovoltaic unit with batteries is set to cover half of the electricity demand at Astypalaia, a non-interconnected island in the Aegean Sea in Greece. PPC Renewables was selected to build the hybrid power plant and expand it in the second phase.

According to the 2011 census, Astypalaia, sometimes also spelled Astypalea, had just over 1,300 inhabitants. It is one of the Dodecanese Islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea. The Greek government selected it for one of the main projects, among a couple of dozen non-interconnected Greek islands, for energy self-sufficiency and a green transformation of the local economy.

PPC Renewables, the green energy arm of government-controlled Public Power Corp., won a competition organized by the Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) and became the contractor for a hybrid power plant. The system in Astypalaia, sometimes spelled Astypalea, is envisaged to consist of a photovoltaic unit of 3.5 MW and batteries with 10 MWh in total capacity.

The project aims to bring the electricity self-sufficiency of Astypalaia to at least 80%

The overall aim is to make it a smart and sustainable island. Due to its distinct shape, Astypalaia is also known as the Aegean’s butterfly.