The energy sector is called upon to solve the difficult problem of social reactions

The phenomenon of social against energy projects is not new. For decades organizations or environmental NGOs have been struggling against projects or infrastructure that they consider to be degraded the local environment. However, people’s reactions are not the same against every individual technology and project. They vary in arguments, intensity and duration depending on circumstances. In the last 15 years most of the reactions have been about wind units, as in Greek (and not only) society, the perception that they are investments in large groups that have visual disturbance and other real or imaginary side effects has been rooted. Today that the first marine wind parks are planned, RIS was forced to proceed to a different location in the case of Elounda Bay in Crete in order to “cover” wind turbines as much as possible in order not to be seen from the tourist accommodation of the area. Recently, the reactions have been extended to the case of photovoltaics. Given the great extent occupied by the great works of this kind, many communities do not want to see a whole portion of their land transformed into a “sea of metal and glass”. Even more intense is the discomfort about floating photovoltaics designed to settle in lakes or seas near the coast. Typical is the example of Lake Polyphytos, where both Mayor Kozanis and the District object to the facility after considering that he would “ingest” the lake. It should, however, be stressed that RES investments are characterised by Union and national legislation as being of a greater national interest. This means in practice that reactions and appeals usually only delay projects, by increasing the costs for investors. This is a difficult issue and experts consider it directly related to the concept of energy democracy. International experience has shown that in cases where a community can participate in each investment and not simply expect some repayable benefits, it becomes much easier to accept the project. We should also make a clear distinction between those who react for realistic reasons and those who see it as a means to support an ideological agenda or have incentives that are not really linked to the interests of each community. In any case, RES companies are well aware that in our day they have to communicate with the local community early in project design to avoid negative surprises when it reaches the stage of implementation. Branch executives have stressed that their purpose is not to do works where they are unwanted. They just want to know that once a project is accepted there will be no backturns and reversals that affect their finances. Finally, there is also the question of the ambitious energy and climate targets that our country has set. Today we have reached close to 50% RES in power generation, which means we are halfway to be completely greened. In order to take the next steps you will need to install in even more areas. As Minister PEN, Th. Skylakakis, put it, “we all want cheap and green current, as long as it is produced far away from us.”