ATHENS – For the first time in Greece, the residents of a municipality are actually producing the energy they consume.

The residents of the small island of Halki, in collaboration with the municipality, can fully cover their energy needs and reduce their electricity bills to virtually nil, as a result of the operation of the island’s photovoltaic park, created as part of the GRecoIslands programme.

The GR-ecoIslands initiative with the state-of-the-art photovoltaic park of Halki, with a power of 1MW, covers the local energy needs of the residents, giving them the possibility to zero the bills for the electricity they consume, through “Virtual Net-Metering.”

Thus, 34% of the one-year PPC electricity bills were actually negative, 40% were under 100 euros, and 26%, mostly businesses, paid up to 800 euros.

The total savings exceeded 200,000 euros in the last year.

At the same time, the photovoltaic park has contributed to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere by 2,246 kg.

Halki was the first island to pave the way for GREcoislands, the national initiative aimed at the comprehensive green transition of small islands. It is part of the Greek government’s effort to combat climate change, while promoting sustainable development and the empowerment of the green economy and cutting-edge technologies.