Halki Island To Turn Green

Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis launched on Friday, November 5, the GR-eco project on the island of Halki, scheduled to turn the island green.

The project, which will include other islands in the future, aims at providing residents with lower electricity bills, reducing environmental pollution, and upgrading energy and telecommunications infrastructure.

Halki is a little island in the Dodecanese archipelago, located just 6 km west of Rhodes. Still untouched by mass tourism, Halki is the perfect destination either for relaxing vacations away from the bright lights or for a quick getaway from Rhodes island.

The benefit of the project for Halki is estimated to be a total of 180,000-250,000 euros per year, while the “green” energy from the solar energy power plants replaces the electricity production from oil resources from the Rhodes units, resulting in the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 1,800 tons per year, the Greek government says.

Halki and the Dodecanese Islands will become sites of dynamic investments in green and cyclical economies, Mitsotakis said, which means cheap electricity and new jobs for the residents.

Residents will work with municipalities to produce the energy they consume, practically nulling the cost of the energy, he explained. “This model of energy democracy can and must become an example for every island, reducing costs on residential bills,” ushering in the era of prosumers, or producers/consumers who take advantage of natural energy sources without additional expense, Mitsotakis noted.

The crisis can become an opportunity under these circumstances, while Greece’s strategic location makes it a hub of energy transfer. “This is the meaning of the recent agreement with Egypt – such agreements turn into shields defending our borders as well,” the premier underlined, urging additional islands and their councils to join the GR-eco islands model.

Earlier in the week, during a speech at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change COP26, he noted that “our pioneering strategy, GR-eco, will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 10 million tons, gradually turning our islands into 100% green and sustainable, autonomous destinations.”

To read this article in full, please visit: greekreporter.com