Broad Prospects in China-Greece Energy Cooperation

Greek and Chinese delegations signed 16 agreements in sectors including energy, agriculture, tourism and ports in Athens during the recent 3-days official visit of Chinese President, Xi Jinping, to Greece. 

In the recent years, the business cooperation between China and Greece in the energy sector have drawn new highlights to their bilateral relationships, especially in the fields of wind energy development and power grid. In particular, in May 2016, State Grid Cooperation of China (SGCC) acquired a 24% stake in Greece's national grid operator ADMIE. During this visit, SGCC again officially expressed its interest in taking part in ADMIE’s ?1 billion scheme to build an undersea power cable to link the island of Crete to the mainland by 2023, for deepening further cooperation.

Another separate deal was signed for Chinese participation in the 50MW Minos CSP project in Crete, witnessed by the leaders from both sides. According to the agreement, the MINOS 50MW CSP project which is located in the southeast of Crete, will be developed by Nur Energie, UK; a consortium formed by China Gezhouba Group International Engineering Co., Ltd and Zhejiang Supcon Solar Technology Co., Ltd. will be awarded as EPC contractor; a Greek local company PRENETON will be responsible for the project construction; and China ICBC will provide financing support for the project. The project will set a good example for trilateral cooperation among China, Greece and the UK under the "One Belt One Road" initiative.

As the first CSP project to be built in Greece, the MINOS project has already been awarded the NER300 award of the European Union. Once complete, the project will provide high-quality clean electricity meeting 10% of local electricity demand annually, and will contribute significantly to the decarbonisation of the energy supply in the Crete island.