Mitsotakis from Riyadh: Greece will be the first country to welcome hydrogen exports
The elements of energy agreement with Egypt highlighted among others o Kyriakos Mitsotakis in his position at the Middle East Green Initiative Summit in Riyadh of Of Saudi Arabia.
“We recently completed a very important one negotiation with the Egypt concerning the construction of a electrical interface cable which will allow entry a lot cheap energy in the European market, energy that will be produced by the sun “, said Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
“At the same time, of course, we can make the natural entry point for liquefied natural gas and hydrogen. “If there is interest in exporting hydrogen to Europe, Greece will be the first country to welcome these hydrocarbons and then ensure that it is transported to the European market,” he added.
Mr. Mitsotakis underlined the important support that Greece will receive from its resources recovery fund for investments who will support the green transition:
“In total, they will be available in Greece 32 billion euro the next seven years and a significant portion of these funds will be made available for green investments. I place special emphasis, Your Highness, on the position of Greece as a point of entry of clean energy in the European market “.
The Prime Minister also sent a message to the priorities to be placed in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East:
“The Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East are the cradle of civilization. “And I think we need to put more effort and more energy into studying the continuities of Climate Change in our cultural heritage.”
The position of Kyriakos Mitsotakis in detail
“Thank you, Your Highness. Thank you for convening this extremely important Summit, which takes place just before the crucial meeting we will have in Glasgow in a few days. Greece is a member of the Union. Therefore, we too are committed to making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Our goal, together with the other EU Member States, is to reduce greenhouse gases by 55% by 2030. We are going to achieve this ambitious goal, we are taking a number of important initiatives.
The most important of these initiatives is to ensure that you will stop the production of electricity from coal, by 2028 at the latest. We are also making significant efforts to increase the share of renewable energy sources and we hope to be one of the first Mediterranean countries to introduce a specific framework for offshore electricity generation. wind farms in our country. And we hope to have the relevant legislative text ready for public consultation in the coming weeks.
Our goal is to have 2 GW of offshore wind energy, as part of our electricity generation mix by 2030. Overall, we aim to move above 25 billion euros in investments in our quest to achieve the goal of the green transition.
We are lucky enough to receive significant support from the European Union to implement this goal through the Recovery and Resilience Fund. In total they will be available in Greece 32 billion euro the next seven years and a significant portion of these funds will be made available for green investments. I place special emphasis, Your Highness, on the position of Greece as a point of entry of clean energy in the European market. We have recently concluded a very important negotiation with Egypt regarding the construction of an electrical interconnection cable that will allow the entry of very cheap energy into the European market, energy that will be produced by the sun.
At the same time, of course, we can make the natural entry point for liquefied natural gas and hydrogen. If there is interest in exporting hydrogen to Europe, Greece will be the first country to welcome these hydrocarbons and then ensure that it is transported to the European market. I should also point out that Greece is the leading force in the Shipping sector in the European Union. We control 50% of the merchant fleet in Europe. Therefore, I encourage them too shipowners to be at the forefront of the effort to reduce greenhouse gases in the Shipping sector.
This is a very big challenge, as you know, which will require significant investment and significant innovation. I hope, however, that we will play an active role in this direction. As you know, we are also an island country and I think it is a huge opportunity to highlight what it means to have islands that become climate neutral, even before the mainland. And we are in the process of collaborating with various private as well as public bodies for the creation pilot projects that will lead, especially the smaller ones Islands us, to the climate neutrality.
Finally, in terms of adaptation, as you know, my country from catastrophic fires last summer. I would like to thank you many of your countries that helped us in these difficult times. We decided to create a special Ministry of Climate Crete and Civil Protection. We hope to pave the way for development between the Mediterranean countries new techniques to fight fires. This is unfortunately a problem that has come to stay. And finally, an issue that I think is important to all of us.
The Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East are the cradle of civilization. And I believe that we need to put more effort and dedicate more energy into studying the effects of Climate Change on our cultural heritage. we have an obligation to ensure that what bequeathed to us by previous generations will remain intact. Therefore, I think this is an issue on which we could join forces and think creatively about how to protect cultural heritage from the negative observations of Climate Change.
Your Highness, thank you very much for inviting Greece to this very important Summit “.