Greece drafts law requiring data centers source 60% of power from renewables

Sounds like a positive and well meaning legislation, right? Well, wrong!

It's no secret that the current Greek administration has been in cahoots with the local energy cartel. In 2022, they amended Article 171 of Law 4951/2022 to allow 40-year rights of use over public land to be granted to renewable energy installations via direct contract awards [1]. This has led to an out-of-control expansion of wind farms [2], with suspected links to wildfires [3] ("mountain burns, wind farm pops up" has been a common pattern in recent years).

And of course, allowing them to build is one thing. Being profitable is another. But thankfully, the government has been turning a blind eye to the cartel's collusion [4]. But maybe that's not enough, so this new legislation is the next act: mandating renewables for data centers, so that demand for the power produced by wind turbines will be artificially high.

[1] https://www.e-nomothesia.gr/index.php/nomos-4951-2022-phek-1...

[2] https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220211-turbine-tortu...

[3] https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1312087/wind-farms-investi...

[4] https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/energy/1286346/eu-sees-...

Populism. Data centers are unpopular even though rulings like this should also apply to more areas like farming, which is a lot worse for the environment.