ATHENS – The Greek government on Thursday unveiled a package of measures aimed to ensure energy saving in the public sector through reducing energy consumption by 10% in 2022 and by 30% by 2030.

Implementation of the measures will lead to cost savings worth several hundred million of euros, given that energy spending by the public sector is expected to reach 1.165 billion euros this year (before implementation of measures).

Presenting the package of measures, Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas said they focused on three axes: implementation of a digital platform to monitor consumption, introducing incentives to achieve energy saving targets and embarking on an immediate programme of equipment maintenance, reducing consumption in road lights and water/drainage systems.

At the same time, the government is launching the “Electra” programme for the energy upgrading of public sector buildings, a project budgeted at 640 million euros. The programme aims to reduce energy consumption by 30%. Energy consumption for the 212,000 installations of general government was 596 million euros in 2020 (with a consumption of 4,450 GWh). In 2021, spending rose to 956 million euros (with consumption at 5,345 GWh). For this year, spending is projected to reach 1.165 billion euros with consumption remaining at last year’s levels.