Greece Announces Two New Energy Upgrade Programs for Tourism Businesses

“Sustainability – Challenges and Opportunities” session with Niki Liberaki (journalist) and Greek ministers Akis Skertsos, Alexandra Sdoukou and Kostas Skrekas.

The Greek Ministry for Environment & Energy is expected to announce two new energy upgrade programs for tourism businesses next month, the ministry’s deputy minister, Alexandra Sdoukou, said on Tuesday.

Speaking during the “Reframing Tourism” conference of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) in Athens, Sdoukou said that both programs will amount to some 260 million euros and be open to all tourist accommodation businesses.

Sdoukou took part in the conference’s first session titled “Sustainability – Challenges and Opportunities” with Akis Skertsos, Minister of State responsible for the coordination of government policies and Kostas Skrekas, Minister of Development.

The session saw the three ministers speaking of the challenges involved in promoting sustainability throughout the country’s development chain.

According to the ministers, the policies that will concern the sustainability of Greek destinations and the actions that will be undertaken by tourism businesses in the direction of limiting their environmental footprint on nature and local communities, will play a catalytic role for the development of the Greek tourism product in the coming period.

Challenges

Talking about the challenges tourism businesses face in their effort towards green transition, Sdoukou referred to “two obstacles”: the cost of energy and a complex regulatory framework.

“The goal is for every company to become a prosumer, i.e. both a producer and a consumer of energy, and this will be possible through financial and regulatory tools that are expected to be announced soon,” the deputy minister said.

2 new programs for tourism accommodation businesses

Touching on the subject of providing incentives to tourism businesses for their energy upgrade, Sdoukou announced that in about a month the ministry will launch a 100-million-euro energy upgrade program for all tourism accommodation businesses.  According to the deputy minister, the amount of the subsidy (covered by the Recovery and Resilience Fund)  will concern 50 percent of each investment.

She also announced that also in a months time, another program of 160 million euros will run. The second program will be addressed to all tourism businesses and will concern the installation of photovoltaic systems paired with batteries.

“The country’s effort on the sustainability front is so strong that in 2030 the electricity produced in Greece will be from renewable energy sources,” Sdoukou said.

Moreover, regarding green transition, Sdoukou said that Greece has made great progress since 2019 without deviating from the goals that had been set and “will continue to do so” until 2030.  According to the deputy minister, the use of lignite and natural gas has significantly decreased, while Greece’s renewable energy sources have doubled between 2019-2023.

Skrekas: No tourism business is ruled out from green transition funding

On his part, Greek Development Minister Giorgos Skrekas focused on the role of his ministry and the access businesses have to the necessary financing for their green transition.

“We must ensure that tourists will continue to choose Greece and that we will have sustainable tourism,” he said.

Moreover, during the session Skrekas highlighted that practically no Greek tourism accommodation business is excluded from funds concerning energy transition.

Referring in particular to 1-, 2- and 3-star hotels that are excluded from the government’s announced development program, Skrekas stressed that there are other programs available to help owners of those hotels get energy upgrades.

“The main priority of the government is the protection of the environment, while the current policies will also make businesses more competitive,” the minister said.