SMM: Greece will spend 5 billion ou yuan to deal with the impact of abandoning coal for power generation by 2028 and cutting carbon emissions by 2050 to meet EU climate targets, the Greek government said last week.

Greek Energy Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said that the funds will include state funds, funds from the European Union and loans from the European Investment Bank, specifically for infrastructure projects, subsidies for new enterprises and training to help port cities in western Macedonia and southern Peloponnese shift to green energy, agriculture and tourism. These regions have been Greece's main suppliers of electricity from cheap lignite for more than half a century.

Greece's Conservative government, which took office last year, has promised to shut down 80 per cent of the coal production capacity of Power Power Corp., the state utility, by 2023 to reduce its carbon footprint.

Hatzidakis also said it was making about 16 private investments in renewable energy and other activities, which are expected to help create more than 8000 jobs in these areas. At the same time, Greece will also consider introducing tax incentives for new businesses in the affected areas to support local communities.

Investments include PPC's plan to build a solar power station in western Macedonia with a generating capacity of 2.3gigawatts, as well as Greek oil's investment of 130 million ou yuan in solar projects in the region.

PPC has already shut down two Macedonian coal-fired units with a total installed capacity of 550MW and will shut down the remaining 10 coal-fired units by 2023. Another power plant it has built in (Ptolemaida), Ptolemida, in northern Greece, will operate on coal until 2028, after which it will convert to a different fuel.

"Click to sign up: 2020 Tin Industry chain Trading Summit

Scan the code to participate in the meeting or apply to join the SMM tin industry exchange group