Debrief: WINDMission Greece 2019
As Greece ramps up its efforts to meet the 2030 wind energy generating capacity goals, WINDMission Greece –a conference co-hosted by Parity Platform, at Deree — The American College of Greece–brought together government & regulatory authorities officials, representatives from international energy companies and investors.
The agenda of the first day of the conference included:
1. Policy and Regulatory initiatives for investment acceleration in Wind Energy
The Norwegian ambassador to Greece, Frode Overland Andersen, highlighted the potential benefits to the Greek economy from the installation of floating and offshore wind farms. The General Secretary of the Ministry for the Environment, Dr. Konstantinos Aravosis, in an interview with Solon Molho, contributor of the Economist Intelligence Unit, gave an overview of reforms the Ministry is applying towards streamlining the licensing procedure for new projects.
2. Project Finance: Bank Loans and alternative options
Renewable energy project finance in the accelerating Greek market drew the attention of international funds including Foresight Group, represented by Director Diomidis Dorkofikis, Quadia Investments and the Hellenic Impact Investing Network (HIIN), represented by investment partner and founder respectively, Kostis Tselenis, and ADN Capital Ventures, represented by founder and CEO, Adam Nikolopoulos. Panelists also included Haris Doukas, expert in Renewable Energy Policy and professor at the National Technical University of Athens, Konstantinos Venetsanos, Head of the structured finance department of the National Bank of Greece. The discussion was moderated by Christos Stefanatos, Project Lead of Parity Platform.
The second day opened with remarks from the ambassador of the US to Greece, Geoffrey Pyatt and Dr. Panagiotis Ladakakos, president of the Hellenic Association of Wind Energy. Other topics included:
3. Development of offshore projects. International Case Studies and progress in Greece for floating and fixed offshore wind parks.
Nikolaos Stefanatos, head of the wind energy department of the Renewable Energy Sources Center, concluded that the development of offshore wind farms is probably the only way to achieve the 2030 goals and achieve the target percentage of wind energy generation in the Greek energy mix. Companies Ideol, Innogy, EDP Renewables & Principle Power presented case studies of offshore parks from around the Europe.
4. Onshore wind parks development. The challenges for developers, operators and management companies
Executives from Optimus Energy, ELLAKTOR, PPC Renewables, Protergia, Hellenic Petroleum and Norton Rose Fulbright representing some of the largest renewable energy companies in Greece, participated in discussions. Key topics were the opportunities in the Greek market given the new targets for Renewable Energy penetration, possible challenges to achieving high rates of capacity growth and the implications of the target model for project developers and asset managers.
Parity Platform co-organized WINDMission Greece 2019 under the auspices of the Hellenic Wind Energy Association (HWEA)
Conference Presentations are available for download via the Link
About Parity Platform
Parity Platform is a fintech start-up that develops digital solutions to make Greentech investing accessible to everyone. It has developed a financing platform that connects retail investors, family offices and small funds with vetted Renewable Energy Projects and apps that streamline incorporation and management of Energy Cooperatives. Parity has received financial support from The People’s Trust and EIT Climate KIC and participates in Be Finnovative 3.0, a program implemented by National Bank of Greece.
