Speaking at a special event on energy communities in Arkalochori, the President of PASOK-Movement for Change, Nikos Androulakis, emphasized a just green transition and the country’s growing dependence on natural gas.
“The SYRIZA-ANEL and New Democracy governments escalated dependence on imported natural gas. Before the Crimea crisis in 2014, the country had minimal dependence. That crisis should have been a wake-up call. Couldn’t they see what was coming?
And to show you the extent of the corruption, the Government Spokesperson stated that one of the reasons inflation persists in our country is our dependence on imported natural gas. Seriously, did you just get that?” he remarked pointedly.
He insisted that “there is a massive business deal that involved giving priority connection terms to the big economic players. That is why the actual energy communities account for the percentage mentioned.
Do you benefit from energy communities? Huge benefits. Because they would create a new culture of cooperation. Because through the cheap energy provided by energy communities, small producers with low production costs would join cooperatives.
I see cooperatives putting their exportable products in refrigerators, and instead of having their roofs covered with solar panels, they’re paying exorbitant costs. So, there’s a problem here.
We, as PASOK, are committed to ensuring that whatever remains of the energy sector—10 to 20%—goes to actual producers and municipalities under favorable connection terms. Let’s put an end to the green transition being a business for the few.”
Mr. Androulakis highlighted the lack of investment in the grid and energy storage.
“I’ll tell you about my personal experience. I was a Member of the European Parliament. Through my own legislative framework, we secured the civil protection water tankers. Through my own legislative framework, we also secured the funds to connect the islands to mainland Greece. Why did we delay? We could have utilized these funds starting in 2020. “So you can’t tell Europe, ‘Build an energy corridor from Central Europe to Greece so we can send energy,’ when you haven’t built a network in your own country,” he noted.
In closing, Mr. Androulakis referred to the Cyprus-Greece electricity interconnection, emphasizing that “as long as there are delays and the Prime Minister does not specify the project’s timeline—which also concerns the energy transition—what does this prove? Erdogan’s bullying has passed. The bullying of the ‘blue homeland.’ They don’t have a clear answer on this either.”