“The new generation of the area will not have to leave to find a job”
An investment plan of 5.8 billion euros in western Macedonia (under conditions of up to € 12 billion) that will create 20,000 immediate jobs during the construction of projects and 2,000 during their operations announced today by the President and CEO of PPC. George Stassisat an event held at the former Lignite Station in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
For a visionary and ambitious world plan, not just European, which with a company with the strength of PPC and the support of the state can be implemented, Mr Mitsotakis said.
“The new generation of the area will not have to leave to find a job. The people who worked at PPC in the area will see their children work in the same place. But instead of breathing lignite dust they will work in modern and technologically advanced workplaces,” he said.
He particularly emphasized the initiatives for residents’ involvement in RES projects developed in the area by PPC Renewables, with a 5 % bond issue of a € 5 million bond of 8 % to be allocated in the third quarter of 2025 exclusively to residents of the apostate areas.
PPC’s plan to convert Western Macedonia into technological and green energy hub for the country and SE Europe includes investment in renewable sources, energy storage (batteries and pumping), capacitors, hydrogen, waste use, gas production, natural gas production The largest in Europe.
In particular, investments include:
-Reaching the lignite unit of Ptolemais 5 in a natural gas unit. The unit will stop burning lignite at the end of 2026 and by the end of 2027 it will be converted into a 350 MW open -cycle gas unit, with the possibility of upgrading to a combined cycle unit of 500 MW initially and 1000 megawatts in a final stage. During the conversion of the unit to gas 300 jobs will be created.
-Drawing on old generators of Units 3 and 4 of the Hearts to capacitors to balancing the high voltage system, cost of € 30 million.
-Relaxation of buildings, installations and machinery, costing 130 million, as Mr Stassis said, almost 95% of the materials will be recycled.
-Restoration of territories with a € 270 million investment: from the 200,000 acres of PPC in the area, 80,000 are gradually returned to the State. The rest will be used to install new investments.
-The construction of photovoltaics, total power of 2130 megawatts and 1.2 DIA investment costs. Euro.
-Energy storage units over 860 megawatts with € 940 million investments that will create over 1,300 jobs during construction and hundreds during operation. These include two heart pumping units (320 megawatts, 430 million euros and 600 jobs) and the southern field (240 megawatts, 310 million euros, 550 jobs) as well as 300 megawatt batteries in Amyntaio, Meliti, Akrini and Heart.
-Hydrogen production single with Motor Oil through the Hellenic Hydrogen consortium, 50 megawatts and € 70 million in investment that will employ 300 employees in its construction.
-Waste to Energy that is designed to be constructed at the point where the courtyard of Ptolemais 5 lignite is currently fueled by the area. This is an investment of around € 300 million that will employ 200 employees in its construction.
-High -efficient electricity and heat co -production unit (SITHEA) in the heart that will supply the district heating network and is expected to be launched by the end of 2026.
-Creation of a Museum of Energy of Western Macedonia.
-Intelligence of the 15 -year pending with the residents of the settlement of Akrin with the yielding of 35 MW photovoltaic park revenue for 20 years.
The most iconic investment is the construction of a large scale Data Center in the area of St. Demetrios Power “Right now in Europe, announced or under construction projects for data centers appear to leave a gap of 27,000 MW between supply and demand by 2030. Demand is much greater than supply. Stasis. “Having created the energy environment I described to you, where there is abundant, green, uninterrupted energy, Western Macedonia is ideal for becoming a technological hub.”
PPC’s Mega Data Center will be 300MW, and its construction will begin as soon as the deals with the hyperscalers who use it are completed.
This is an investment of 2.3 billion euros that will create 4,000 jobs in the area, for which it will be built and a 100 MW natural gas unit in Agios Dimitrios, next to the Data Center.
“The area is ideal for the project. We have land, energy, gas network, electricity transport networks, fiber optic network with connection to international telecommunications hubs, water, district heating needs, labor force. Med Corridor – in which we participate – with telecommunications hubs abroad, to India and Singapore.
In the second phase, the Mega Data Center can evolve into a Giga Data Center, that is, reaching 1,000MW which means an additional 5.4 billion investment and additional investments of 1.2 billion in energy units.
“In this second phase, total jobs from all projects (energy and technology) will reach 20,000 during construction and 2,000 during operation.
It will be a great investment for global data now, “Mr Stassis stressed and concluded:
“PPC’s investments bring a new day of growth for the region. It is the beginning for Western Macedonia to reinvent itself in a technology. PPC wants to do so, knows how to do it and can do it.”
