Unveiling of its strategic plan PPCaimed at transforming Western Macedonia into an Energy – Technological Node West Macedonia Valley this week at an event in the presence of the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, which will take place on Thursday (3.4.2025) in the AES Heart, Ptolemais.
At the heart of the transformation of the region are PPC’s actions to apologize to the energy mix, the development of renewable energy sources and the new initiative to penetrate – in the estimates of the business administration – many promising Data Centers industry.
The key elements of PPC’s strategy for the region, as described by PPC President and CEO George Stassis include:
Dedding: The last lignite unit of PPC Ptolemais 5, 660 Power of Megawatt, which was completed in 2024, withdraws at the end of 2026 but will not stop operating. Procedures have already begun to convert it into a natural gas unit, with the ability to combine and hydrogen in the future, as well as to supply it with high pressure pipeline. In the first phase from 2027 the unit will operate in an open circle with 350 megawatts, while in the next there is the prospect of upgrading it with the conversion of it in a combined cycle with a simultaneous increase in power to 500 megawatts. The advantages of natural gas units over lignite are the lowest cost of production due to lower pollutants and the greater flexibility that allows them to operate complementary to renewable energy, quickly undertaking loads when the contribution of the sun and the air and the air and the air are available. (++ timetable for apoliticalization).
New RES: PPC develops large -scale RES in Western Macedonia. Among them the 550 megawatt Ptolemais project (367 has already been completed and the rest will be built this year), while two other 171+80 megawatt stations were completed in the first quarter this year. In total in the former lignite mines of Ptolemais- beyond Unit 5 that will be converted into gas- 1.2 gigawat photovoltaic power, 300 megawatt batteries, and two hydroelectrics with 320 and 240 meters of water. Units. The main advantage of the area is on the one hand the available areas of the former lignite mines and, in particular, the existence of high and high voltage distribution networks that served the fleet of lignite units.
Data centers: The new activity in which PPC is oriented. Data Centers require large amounts of energy to cool the installations, which creates challenges in energy networks given the narrowness already existing in the electrical area. As Mr Stassis noted during the presentation of the results of 2024 to brokerage analysts, global demand for Data Centers is exponentially increasing and multiplied by the expansion of artificial intelligence. According to him, Europe is 1-1.5 years back compared to developments in the US. Which means that sooner or later demand will also occur in Europe, but there is a narrowness of proper land for the installation of new infrastructure. This problem is found by the region of Western Macedonia, which has access to electricity and telecommunications networks, energy production, human resources, available land and easy licensing. The investment examined by PPC if the appropriate partner is found is 300 megawatt data with a prospect of expanding 1000 megawatts in the next phase. The cost of the investment is estimated at 7 – 8 million per megawatt, which means that its total amount can reach up to € 8 billion.