Empowering households and small businesses in Crete

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“Minoan Energy was established to support our fellow citizens who are struggling financially. Pretty soon the first, one hundred households and businesses will be relieved of the stress of electricity bills, after connecting to our first project, a 405kW solar PV park. When the earthquake happened, we decided to intensify our efforts even more. We are working hard to have our second and bigger project ready by March, that will also provide electricity to 60 earthquake-stricken families, who need it so much! said the president of the energy community, Lampis Giannopoulos, an agronomist and former mayor of Arkalochori.

The Minoan Energy E.C. was founded in October 2019 at  Arkalochori, a village of the municipality of Minoa Pediadas and its scope extends throughout Crete. The total number of their members is currently 264, among which are the Region of Crete, the Diocese of Arkalochori, Kastelli and Viannos, the four municipalities of the region, municipal enterprises, the Peza Agricultural Union, cooperatives, associations, small businesses, many households and citizens who want to support this new institution with their participation. “A key feature of our Community that we are proud, is the participation of a twenty-member team of scientists, academics, technicians and researchers of various specialties as members, but also as volunteers, who are our hope for the future, as they combine research and technology with the objectives of the Community.”, Dimitris Katsaprakakis, Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Hellenic Mediterranean University and a founding member of the energy community, told us.

The initial goal of the energy community is the implementation of solar PV parks for virtual net metering to meet the energy needs of its members. In addition to these PV projects and the ones that will follow, the construction of two wind farms of 6 MW, the implementation of energy storage projects starting with the pumping storage project in the torrent “Anapodari” and the utilization of the abundant biomass in Crete are also in their future plans.

“After the Greek recession and the pandemic, it is very difficult for most of our members, households and businesses, to meet their energy needs and the help they will receive through Community projects will be substantial. Households will be relieved while many businesses will become viable, especially those with high energy costs. The problem most of them are facing is how they will respond to the necessary financial contribution for the project. If this problem is addressed via Genervest, everything will be settled in the best way, since the amortization of the cost will be completed in about 4 years and therefore for the remaining 21 years of the project they will have free electricity! Their benefit will be over 20% per year, when, for those who choose to invest, the deposit rate is almost zero! That alone says it all from a private economy standpoint. Additionally the project benefits the environment to the maximum, as we save thousands of tons of carbon dioxide!”, stressed Lampis.

Following the recent earthquakes at Archalochori, Crete that caused significant damages, the energy community is working tirelessly to help revitalize the village and the surrounding area. With your help, this project will be implemented immediately to provide to 170 households and 30-40 small businesses in Crete the support they need!