A newly commissioned standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) in Larissa is the largest in Greece so far, at 330 MW in capability and 790 MWh in capacity. METLEN and Karatzis Group installed it in an investment worth EUR 170 million. In addition, Faria Renewables launched operations of its 49.9 MW / 134 MWh facility.
Greece has been picking up pace in the rollout of standalone battery storage, amid a race with its neighbor Bulgaria, a global champion in the deployment of the technology. Just days after HELLENiQ Energy’s first battery storage park, and the one built by Elsewedy Electric, the country neared 1 GW in total operating power with the launch of two more facilities. Both are in the Larissa regional unit, between Athens and Thessaloniki.
Under a strategic partnership, Metlen (formerly Mytilineos) and Karatzis Group of Cos. inaugurated a facility of 330 MW in operating power and 790 MWh in capacity. The BESS in the Thessaly region is the biggest in Greece and one of the biggest in Europe.
Metlen holds 49% in the joint venture, with Karatzis Group controlling 51%. They completed it in six months. More than 880 people were involved in the project at the village of Nees Karyes in the municipal unit of Nikaia, in Kileler municipality of Larissa.
Mitsotakis: Power prices in Greece now at or below European average
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis recalled at the launch ceremony that Greece now generates more than half of its electricity from renewables and that it has become a net power exporter.
“I want to remind you that in 2019 our country had the most expensive wholesale electricity price in all of Europe. That has changed now. We are at the average, often below average,” he stated.
The investment is worth EUR 170 million, according to the update.
“This project reflects the new reality of the energy system, as storage, alongside grids and interconnections, is essential if we are to use the clean energy we generate with efficiency and provide businesses and consumers with a more reliable and predictable energy supply,” said Executive Chairman of Metlen Evangelos Mytilineos.
The project benefited from loan support from the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan Greece 2.0.
“Our participation in a storage project of this scale reflects our strategic choice to invest in infrastructure with a long-term horizon and a meaningful value for the Greek economy,” Karatzis’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Antonis Karatzis asserted.
Faria Galani BESS is beneficiary from Greece’s second energy storage auction
The other new battery energy storage system is run by Faria Renewables. It held the ribbon-cutting event this week for the 49.9 MW / 134 MWh facility.
The Faria Galani BESS, which came online three months ago, is in Galanovrysi in the municipality of Elassona. The project obtained state support at the second energy storage auction.