ATHENS – Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis predicted that growth rates in 2021 will actually prove to be much higher than those given in the latest forecasts, addressing a discussion entitled “The Green Deal at the center of Greek-German economic relations”. The discussion took place on Wednesday as part of the established New Year’s dinner of the Hellenic-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

According to an announcement by the chamber on Thursday, Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas, in his own speech, forecast that ‘green’ hydrogen will come into people’s lives much faster than originally thought.

Referring to the reasons why the government is insisting on its investment programme for a “green” transition of the economy, Skrekas stressed that renewable energy sources will significantly reduce electricity prices, noting that “if the percentage of RES in electricity generation had today been 70 pct, namely where we want to reach by the end of the decade, then we would have much lower and more stable energy prices.”

As he explained, “the cost of a megawatt hour of heat produced from hydrogen – which comes from the sun – currently costs 72 euros, while the cost of a megawatt hour of natural gas is 74 euros. This means that green hydrogen will come into our lives much faster than we think and this also applies to Greece. We have a flagship project, the ‘White Dragon’, and smaller pilot projects in the refineries and cement industry,” he added.

The head of the Chancellery of the Federal Republic of Germany and Federal Minister for Special Affairs, Wolfgang Schmidt, in a message, stressed the commitment of the new German government to have a relationship of close cooperation with Greece.