“The investment agreed by PPC with the American giant Amazon for the construction of a data center in Kozani is currently at the cutting edge of investments being made worldwide. We are talking about an investment that is not important only for PPC. It will be extremely important for the country as a whole. A place that for decades supplied the country with electricity can now also host cutting-edge infrastructure for the cloud and artificial intelligence.”
These remarks were made by the Vice President of the Government Kostis Hatzidakis, during his visit today to Kozani, referring to PPC’s recent agreement with Amazon. As Kostis Hatzidakis stressed: “During construction, hundreds of workers will be employed, while when the first phase (with a capacity of 300 MW) begins operating, 400 to 500 workers, mainly scientists, will be employed in this specific field. And when it is completed, because there is a prospect of reaching up to 1,000 MW, we will be talking about 1,500 workers. I am also personally very happy about this investment, because in 2019, as Minister of Environment and Energy, I inherited a PPC that was on the edge of the cliff. Today we are talking about a completely different PPC, which can contribute to the energy transition of Western Macedonia in a very positive way, but is already also helping Greece to be able to take very rapid steps toward the future.”
“This development,” he added, “is part of a much broader PPC investment plan in Western Macedonia, with new RES, energy storage, pumped storage, the new CHP unit for district heating in Kardia, and green hydrogen projects. A plan that during its implementation will create more than 5,000 jobs.”
Earlier, Kostis Hatzidakis visited the construction site of the company Wonderplant, which is proceeding with an expansion of its activities in the field of potato production. After the visit he underlined the following: “This is the largest investment currently being made in the field of agriculture in Greece. It is an investment that will greatly affect the development prospects of the region and is also an investment that shows that we are moving from planning and the mere presentation of budgets to implementation. This investment will be completed in the first months of 2028. Even more importantly, because there are huge PPC areas here, I understand that the company carrying out this investment here is interested in proceeding with a much, much larger investment, 15 times larger in area, in the field of potato cultivation.
A cultivation that is connected with the area here of Kozani and Ptolemaida, with very modern methods and with productivity that will reach the productivity of the Netherlands. We are talking about different speeds and a different image of the region. If these investments are combined with the other projects being carried out, with other investments on many different levels, you can see that we have now reached the time when the vision becomes tangible work. We are not giving up, we continue with specific timetables and specific projects which we owe to the people of Western Macedonia.”
Moreover, in the afternoon the Vice President of the Government inaugurated the 34th Western Macedonia Commercial, Craft & Agricultural Exhibition 2026, which is being held at the Western Macedonia Exhibition Center, in Koila, Kozani. He noted that the exhibition is being held again after 10 years, a fact that signals that Western Macedonia is making a new start. “It is moving from a production model centered for decades on lignite to a more diversified economy: with clean energy, new technologies, manufacturing, agri-food, innovation and new digital infrastructure.”
At the same time, he referred to the progress of the projects that have been scheduled as well as those that have already been implemented:
“Many of you,” he said, “will already have used the E65. The energy upgrade of the Kozani swimming pool has been completed, while the Florina swimming pool, which I visited today, will operate for the first time, after going through a lot, truth be told, thanks to the works financed by the just development transition program.
At the same time, important new projects are now entering the implementation track:
- the Nestorio Dam, with a budget of 62 million euros,
- the new Holistic Cancer Management Center at Bodosakeio, worth 27 million euros, and
- the modernization of the Vigla-Pisoderi ski center has been put out to tender recently.
And of course the Ptolemaida-Florina road is moving forward, which I visited today, with secured funding for the Ptolemaida-Xino Nero section, which will soon be put out to tender without delay as soon as the last pending environmental permits are completed.”
“This,” he concluded, “is the main bet of the transition: not simply to replace one activity with another, but to create many different pillars of development, so that Western Macedonia can acquire a more resilient, competitive and outward-looking economy. Western Macedonia can rise higher. It can become part of the great change that the country’s production model needs. And the Government has an obligation to actively and dynamically support the transition to the new hopeful reality.”