US company Advent Technologies Holdings announced on September 7 that its two EU-backed White Dragon and Green HiPo projects in Greece have been approved by a joint decision by Greece’s Development and Investments Minister Adonis Georgiadis, and Environment, Energy, and Climate Change Minister Kostas Skrekas.
An Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI), the White Dragon aims to replace the coal-fired power plants across the region of Western Macedonia and transition to clean energy production and transmission, with the ultimate goal of fully decarbonizing Greece’s energy system. The project plans to use large-scale renewable electricity to produce green hydrogen by electrolysis in the region.
Also an IPCEI project, the Green HiPo concerns the development, design, and manufacturing of HT-PEM fuel cells for the production of heat and power.
The White Dragon and Green HiPo projects, each of which prominently features Advent’s innovative fuel cell technology, were among five projects, out of 20 submitted, that received approval and were selected after evaluation by a special Interministerial Committee of Experts, Advent said in a press release.
Advent Chairman and CEO Vasilis Gregoriou said. “We are thrilled with this news that the White Dragon and Green HiPo projects have been approved by the Greek government in the first wave of the IPCEI projects. This decision demonstrates the commitment by Greece and the EU to rapidly decarbonize power production,” he added.
The scope of the programs, as submitted by Advent and the White Dragon consortium of companies, is set to replace Greece’s largest coal-fired plants, with renewable solar energy parks, which will be supported by green hydrogen production (4.65GW), and fuel cell heat and power production (400MW). The projects are part of the “Hydrogen Technologies” IPCEI and will now move towards approval at EU level.
As a next step, Advent said it will demonstrate before the European Commission (DG Competition) the economic, environmental, financial, social, technical feasibility of the project and the positive spillover effects to the European economy and society. Upon successful assessment, Advent will receive a final notification from the European Commission.
