ASTYPALEA – In the fight against climate change, Greece must be a leader, not a follower, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday on Astypalea, the island which will become a model of smart and sustainable living with the collaboration of the state and Volkswagen.

Mitsotakis was at the SE Aegean island to be briefed on progress of the “Astypalea: smart & sustainable island” project and noted that technology is useful only when it can serve human needs. The specific island was chosen because the local government believed in the project from the start and collaborated in an exemplary collaboration, he added.

Calling what is happening on the island “a revolution”, Mitsotakis said what is happening on Astypalea is not happening in many places in the world. “We are at the forefront of innovation and technology today about how to adopt smart mobility systems, and how to adapt our regulatory framework to improve quality of life with electric cars. The energy we will be using will be provided by a new production system of photovoltaics that combine production and storage,” he added.

Green energy is the cheapest form of energy Greece can produce, the Greek PM said, adding that “we are all victims of a war and an invasion that blew natural gas prices sky-high, and the green transition is being done for reasons of energy security.” The islands will have more solar than wind energy, because “large wind turbines cannot be installed on small islands,” he explained, adding however that wind turbines will only be installed in communities that want them.

“The combination of wind turbines and photovoltaics is proven to be the best,” Mitsotakis said, noting that this will also happen on the remote Tilos and Chalki islands. “We can make the difference on our islands through green transition by combining wind and solar energy,” he stressed, committing to visiting the island again to see the project’s progress.