- The gigantic lignite deposit worth several billion euros that will be “buried,” and the country’s energy security problem. Meanwhile, we export lignite to Skopje and then repurchase electricity from there.
- DEI’s maneuvers involving the exploitation of public land that does not belong to them. There is also the big scheme involving 120,000 stremmata of land.
- In autumn 2024, Advent Technologies’ €64 million investment to develop innovative hydrogen fuel cell systems was canceled. This investment would have created 650 jobs.
- In December 2024, the €1.2 billion Sunlight Group Gigafactory lithium-battery investment was canceled. This investment would have created 2,000 jobs.
- Western Macedonia SOS: According to ELSTAT, unemployment in Western Macedonia stood at 14.3% in September 2025, compared to a national average of 8.6%.
By Paris Karvounopoulos
The “need” for the country’s de-lignitization coincided with Greece’s entry into the bailout memoranda. In 2010, as the memorandum storm began, the then-Deputy Energy Minister, Yiannis Maniatis, spoke of a complete energy pivot for the country, which was now supposed to abandon lignite. Fifteen years later, this shift is steering the country and its energy security into uncharted waters. It has created thousands of unemployed people and threatens to cause the total decline of regions such as Western Macedonia.
Nine years after Maniatis made his statements, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis took the baton. Just two months after his election, he announced the country’s de-lignitization from the UN podium. Many have described it as a “forced de-ligitimization,” which endangers the country’s energy security above all else. This became evident immediately after the war in Ukraine began.
During that difficult period, the government rushed to reactivate lignite plants. Now, it is preparing to shut down the modern Ptolemaida 5 lignite unit. TERNA was involved in its construction, and it only entered commercial operation last year. Will they really shut it down before it has paid for itself?
CHRISTOS KOLOVOS
Independent Energy Consultant, PhD Mining Engineer – Metallurgical Engineer, NTUA, Former Director of Mining Studies & Works, PPC S.A. / Lignite Center of Western Macedonia
The government has responded to these concerns by stating that massive investments will be made and thousands of jobs will be created. However, six years later, the investments and jobs have yet to materialize, and two “ready-to-go projects” have been canceled.
In autumn 2024, Advent Technologies’ €64 million investment in the development of innovative hydrogen fuel cell systems was canceled. This investment would have created 650 jobs. Then, in December 2024, the Sunlight Group’s €1.2 billion investment in a lithium-battery gigafactory was also canceled. The project had received €250 million in secured funding from the EU Innovation Fund and would have created 2,000 jobs.
As a result, unemployment in the region rose dramatically as specialized workers, including bulldozer, grader, and excavator operators; haul-truck drivers; and welders, left for other jobs at Hellenic Gold or abroad. According to ELSTAT, unemployment in Western Macedonia stood at 14.3% in September 2025, compared to a national average of 8.6%.
Following the government’s cancellation of its “flagship projects,” voices of protest began to grow. In April 2025, to reassure residents whose Lignite Power Plants (LPPs) were being shut down, the government asked PPC President Giorgos Stassis to present a €5.75 billion investment program for PPC.
The presentation, which was more of a spectacle, was held at the former Kardia LPP, with the Prime Minister and New Democracy (ND) MPs in attendance. Supporting the now-unrealistic plan to phase out lignite by December 31, 2026, Mr. Stassis promised a series of projects. Among them:
- Mega Data Center at the Agios Dimitrios Power Plant
- Pumped-storage projects (former Kardia Mine and South Field Mine)
- Waste-to-energy incineration unit
- Natural-gas power unit
- Photovoltaic installations
- Capacitor systems
- Pyrolysis plant
- Thousands of jobs
All of this is contingent on the disappearance of lignite. This is why the government chose to build a data center on the lignite storage site of the Agios Dimitrios power plant. With the pumped-storage project at the South Field mine, they will “bury” the deposit with millions of cubic meters of water so that neither the deposit nor the power plant remains.
Meanwhile, in Kozani, lignite from the Achlada Mine in Florina (owned by Mytilineos) is transported by truck from North Macedonia to a nearby, old, and highly polluting plant. Greece then imports electricity from North Macedonia. Notably, the trucks carrying Greek lignite pass in front of the Meliti Power Plant, which PPC shut down in May 2025.
What are the lignite reserves in the region? According to the 2021 Environmental Impact Study of PPC Mines, the lignite reserves in the Kozani–Ptolemaida area amount to 505 million tons. These reserves are worth billions because their energy-equivalent value corresponds to 500 million barrels of oil. However, instead of exploiting them, the decision was made to build a 300 MW Mega Data Center. The data center is located on the lignite storage yards of the Agios Dimitrios power plant, which can hold 1.3 million tons of lignite.
The problems that arise include:
- Enormous energy consumption
- Hundreds of cubic meters of water are required for cooling.
- The source of the cooling water and its management are unspecified. Will the now-private PPC handle it? What licensing will be used for public water to cool the Mega Center? It should be noted that no investors have been found for the project yet.
To address the enormous amount of water required by the data centers, two pumped-storage projects were announced.
The first project is located at the active South Field Mine, which has an exposed deposit that supplies the Agios Dimitrios Power Plant and the state-of-the-art Ptolemaida 5 power plant.
The second project is located at the closed Kardia Mine, which will be flooded with water.
However, lignite is public property, so flooding it would amount to its permanent destruction. Furthermore, no studies have been conducted on the impact this will have on groundwater.
Can Greece manage its energy needs without using any lignite? The answer was recently revealed. In 2024 and 2025, IPTO requisitioned and brought online lignite units to lower electricity prices and stabilize the system, especially after the unprecedented blackout in the Iberian Peninsula. But who will guarantee the stability of the system once our own thermal units are shut down? The private natural gas companies?
On October 21, 2025, Mr. Mitsotakis published an article in the Financial Times acknowledging that “the green transition cannot be an end in itself.” For many years, Europe prioritized decarbonization above all else. Other objectives, such as employment, industrial production, and strategic autonomy, were sacrificed in the name of decarbonization. We cannot continue down this path. Decarbonization is vital, but it is not the only goal. If we must accept certain emissions for a somewhat longer period to save our industries or maintain social cohesion, so be it.” These discussions must be conducted with honesty and integrity. We cannot start from climate neutrality and expect everything else to fall into place.
The above statement was interpreted as an admission that the green development program is being rushed. However, PPC requested and obtained an extension of the environmental permits for the Agios Dimitrios Power Plant until May 2026. This extension covers the heating period for Kozani’s district heating system. After that, PPC will cease operation of the plant and the South Field Mine, effectively “filling in” the lignite deposit. Thus, PPC is swiftly moving toward permanently closing its power plants.
PPC’s Maneuvers with Public Land
Another paradox of the forced de-lignitization in Western Macedonia concerns PPC, a private company that legally has the right to exploit lignite deposits but does not own the land. The land was expropriated in the public interest. Therefore, PPC cannot claim to retain public land if it is no longer mining lignite. PPC held a license to exploit the deposit, not the land itself. Once mining operations ended, PPC was obliged to restore the land and return it to its original state. This did not happen, however.
However, a legal loophole was discovered that allowed the state to gift 120,000 stremmata to PPC. In July 2022, the state established METAVASI S.A., a company whose purpose is “environmental restoration and the transformation of the productive model of Western Macedonia and Megalopolis.” METAVASI S.A. was given 97,000 stremmata of land, which can now be exploited freely and is protected under the following provision:
“All land belonging to PPC S.A. that was acquired for the purpose of extracting and exploiting lignite deposits and included in the De-lignitization Zones of Article 155 of Law 4759/2020 shall be considered to have fulfilled its intended purpose and may be used for other purposes within the framework of the de-lignitization process.”
Through the company METAVASI S.A., PPC began auctioning projects funded by the Recovery Fund, using these legal tricks in cooperation with the state. In September 2025, METAVASI S.A. announced long-term leases of 1,010 stremmata in Ptolemaida and Amyntaio for exploitation. Thus, METAVASI S.A., established for “environmental restoration and the transformation of the productive model of Western Macedonia and Megalopolis,” ultimately financed projects with Recovery Fund money through tripartite contracts with PPC, ERGOLAVOS, and METAVASI.
Residents of Kozani, Ptolemaida, and Amyntaio are seeing firsthand how little these projects have to do with the “transformation of the productive model.” The promises of “restoration” have turned to dust, along with the ash that still covers the region. Meanwhile, PPC presents itself as a savior, taking pride in its contribution to the transition. However, as we have explained, this leaves the country energetically exposed, at least for now. The now-private PPC is evolving into the region’s de facto governor and major landowner. Without consultation, it is announcing projects and preparing to deliver the final blow in the coming months with the permanent closure of mines and power plants.
