The two-day 7th Energy Forum, co-organised by the newspaper Symvoulos Epicheiriseon and the Technical Chamber of Greece – Western Greece Branch, with the support of Panagiotopoulos Bricks and Roof Tiles S.A., concluded with great interest.
The proceedings and discussions of the conference showed that Western Greece is entering a new, dynamic phase of development in networks and infrastructure, with particular emphasis on energy.
Throughout the conference our company had a stand in the main area, and our executives had the opportunity to hold useful and constructive discussions with members of the technical community, the region’s political life and our partners, as well as to follow the conference’s interesting presentations first-hand.

Visit of the Regional Governor to the stand — Visit of the Regional Governor of Western Greece, Mr Apostolos Katsifaras, to the PANAGIOTOPOULOS S.A. stand. Meeting with members of the company’s management, Messrs Kostas, Dionysis and Stathis Panagiotopoulos.

Discussion at the company stand — Members of the company’s management, Messrs Dionysis and Panagiotis Panagiotopoulos, had an interesting discussion about the construction market and energy issues with the Member of Parliament for Achaia, Mr Konstantinos Spartinos, during his visit to the company’s stand.

In brief, the topics discussed were:

Development of LNG networks.
Maria Fotiadou, Director of Development Activities at DEPA, spoke about the future of LNG internationally and in Greece. Nikos Kontoes, Chairman and CEO of the Patras Port Authority (OLPA), estimated that the port infrastructure for LNG supply will be completed in 2022.
“Revise the Western Greece Regional Operational Programme 2014-2020. Issue a call and designate the sites” were the steps proposed by Thodoros Terzopoulos, CEO of DEDA S.A., noting that institutional and legal procedures are now mature. Provided funding is secured and procedures move forward, the supply network could be ready in 2019.
Hydrocarbons
“Developments are ahead of us,” said Foivos Symeonidis, Director of Drilling & Production at Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE), referring to hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation in Western Greece. He estimated that extraction in Western Greece could bring the State daily revenue of up to 540,000 dollars and annual revenue of 240,000,000 dollars.
Electricity network in the Peloponnese
In 2019 the voltage and energy-sufficiency problems in the Peloponnese are being radically resolved, while the ability to serve continuously growing electrical loads is secured. IPTO’s planning was presented by I. Margaris, Vice-Chairman of the Independent Power Transmission Operator and General Manager of Technology, System Development and Strategy.
He referred specifically to the Megalopoli–Patras loop, which connects high-load areas, and to the Megalopoli–Corinth–Attica loop to be completed in 2024, which also marks the lifting of restrictions on renewable energy investments.
Energy Communities
N. Balabanis, Deputy Regional Governor for Energy & Environment of Western Greece, G. Angelopoulos, Vice-Rector of the University of Patras, and D. Tsekeris, Mechanical Engineer and Special Adviser to the Ministry of Environment and Energy on renewables and electricity, focused on the framework for setting up Energy Communities and the prospects they open. Tackling energy poverty is also among the goals of the new structure.
Energy market
Stavros Goutsos, Deputy CEO of PPC (DEI), spoke about the company’s transformation into a business with a new face: from a company that produces and supplies energy into a provider of energy products and services. Hellenic Post (ELTA) has also entered the energy market.
“Liberalisation gave consumers the right to choose their supplier. ELTA is an organisation with all the necessary characteristics and years of experience in transactions and reliability,” said Angelos Protopsaltis, Director of ELTA Energy.
Dimitris Kolaitis, Secretary of the Board of the Union of Industrial Energy Consumers (EBIKEN), spoke about the high energy costs burdening businesses, noting that Greece is the most expensive country in the EU for electricity and natural gas.
Stelios Neofytidis, Research Director at FORTH/ICE-HT, spoke about the use of fuel cells in a decentralised energy production system.
“Energy Saving at Home II” programme
Ioanna Nikou, of the NSRF Executive Structure of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, gave assurances that the problems that arose in the previous week during the implementation of the “Exoikonomo Kat’ Oikon II” programme have been resolved, stressing that the system’s capacity has been multiplied so that thousands of beneficiaries in our region will be able to submit their applications.
Energy in the primary sector
The need to connect the Technical Chamber with the primary sector and to modernise the production model were also two important points raised during the event. In this direction, E. Vasilakopoulou, Head of Network Development & Operation at HEDNO, noted that the way is now opening for energy production from photovoltaic stations. Energy adviser I. Chatzichristos stressed that energy costs are what keep Greek products out of international markets.
At political level, Regional Governor Apostolos Katsifaras stressed that the Region has focused on bringing innovation into the primary sector to upgrade farming methods in Western Greece.

More information and material from the conference are available on the conference website, while all the presentations on energy saving in housing (New “Exoikonomo”) can be watched on the YouTube channel of the Office of the President of TCG/Western Greece, Mr Vasilis Aivalis.