Greek utility PPC plans 860 MW energy storage in mining region

Greece’s PPC has announced €940 million ($1.03 billion) plans for 560 MW of PHES and 300 MW of batteries in Western Macedonia, as part of a €5.8 billion suite of energy investments in the mining region.

PPC chair Georgios Stassis told an audience including Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis the investment would create up to 20,000 construction jobs and up to 2,000 permanent roles.

The PHES capacity consists of two sites: a €430 million, 320 MW/2.56 GWh project at the Kardia Mine and the €310 million, 240 MW/2.88 GWh South Field Mine facility. Both will use the former mines as their lower reservoirs. ESS News has learned both projects have been licensed by the Greek energy regulator.

With PPC having secured the contract for a 50 MW/200 MWh BESS in last month’s third and final utility-scale storage government auction, Stassis announced plans for 300 MW of BESS in Western Macedonia. The utility had already secured contracts for two BESS, with a total capacity of 98 MW/196 MWh, in the first of the tenders, in 2023, with all three sites planned in the region.

The energy storage projects in the region alone will create more than 1,300 construction jobs and “hundreds of positions during operation,” according to a press release issued to announce the PPC energy investment.

Power technology

The energy plan also involves investing €1.2 billion into 2,130 MW of solar generation capacity on former mines, enough to power around 715,000 homes and businesses, according to the press release.

PPC has been developing solar in the region since 2020, tendered and unsubsidized, and in 2023 signed a deal with Germany’s RWE utility to begin construction of 210 MW of solar at a former lignite mine.

“At the center of PPC Group’s investment plan is the construction of a new, 300 MW mega data center,” the utility’s press release stated, adding “PPC is ready to commence construction once agreements are in place with the hyperscalers who will operate it and could be ready by 2027.”

That facility would rank among the largest in Europe. The energy supply for the data center will be provided by customer-side, “behind the meter” generation, meaning its demand would not place additional load on the national grid.

PPC said the data center could be scaled up to 1 GW, depending on demand.

The utility’s Western Macedonia plans also include a 38 MW thermal waste-to-energy site to produce electricity and district heating and a 50 MW green hydrogen facility.

The controversial Ptolemaida 5 coal plant will remain operational, initially as a 350 MW open-cycle natural gas plant, until 2028. “It will then be upgraded to a 500 MW combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) once the investment decision for the data center is made,” said the PPC.

Stassis said the PPC strategy would serve as a catalyst to redefine the utility through technology, adding, “PPC is a powertech company and its heart will beat in Western Macedonia.”