LARNACA, Cyprus (AP) – Officials from the European Union’s nine southern member states said Monday they are focusing on using offshore wind and solar power to try to turn the Mediterranean region into a renewable energy hub and avoid the dangers of climate change.
The energy ministers of Cyprus, Slovenia and Malta, the economy minister of Croatia and the officials of Greece, Italy, France, Portugal and Spain in a joint statement that they are working to stop renewable energy projects at the borders without red tape. which may drive away investors.
They called on the European Commission to lead a new study on renewable energy in the region where “informed decisions and concrete steps will be taken” to pursue green energy projects. This statement came at the MED9 Energy Ministerial Meeting in Larnaca.
George Papanastasiou, the minister of energy in charge of Cyprus, told reporters that countries called MED9 are looking for ways to produce green energy on offshore bases due to the growing shortage of land in the Mediterranean countries where such projects have been built.
Papanastasiou said that some countries have already carried out offshore wind energy testing projects in shallow waters, the results of which will be studied by other MED9 countries to create their own areas. There are also energy systems generated by waves and floating photovoltaic units as there is a large capacity in southern Europe for such technology due to the abundance of sunlight.
The Director General of the Energy Agency in Spain, Joan Groizard, said that the Mediterranean countries “can and should be at the forefront of the energy transition,” because they are the most vulnerable to climate change.
A major challenge in securing offshore wind and solar power generation facilities is connecting to existing onshore power grids and interconnecting for transmission.
The Greek ambassador to Cyprus, Ioannis Papameletiou, said that the Aegean is among the most advanced air powers in the EU, noting that “there is a lot of room for cooperation and exchange of best practices.”
He said Greece has set itself the goal of introducing 2 gigawatts of wind power into its energy mix by 2030, increasing that to 10 GW by 2040 and 17 GW by 2050.
The Italian Ambassador to Cyprus, Federica Ferrari Bravo, said: “Affordable green energy is also a powerful tool for peace.”