Greece renewable energy spatial planning regulations

The Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy has introduced new Special Spatial Planning Frameworks for Renewable Energy Sources (RES) to balance the energy transition with the protection of natural environments, cultural heritage, and local communities. Minister Stavros Papastavrou presented the initiative, which seeks synergy with tourism spatial planning.

Under these regulations, wind energy investments face significant geographic restrictions. Prohibitions include mountain regions above 1,200 meters, islands smaller than 300 square kilometers, Natura 2000 sites, forests, Ramsar wetlands, and specific metropolitan areas such as Attica and Thessaloniki. Industry analysts suggest these horizontal prohibitions could exclude at least 61% of the country from new wind investments and potentially reduce average wind farm productivity by 29%.

Solar energy developments are also subject to new limits. Photovoltaic installations are prohibited in forests, national parks, and protected cultural heritage zones. To protect agricultural land and landscapes, the framework introduces a maximum land coverage limit of 1.5% per Regional Unit. Estimates indicate that the ban on forest lands removes 56.3% of the territory from solar investment plans.

The new rules do not apply retroactively to existing operational projects or those that have already received environmental permits, nor do they affect rooftop solar installations.

Following the implementation, the Municipality of Andros announced plans to appeal to the Council of State to annul the ministerial decision. While large islands like Andros, Crete, and Rhodes remain technically eligible for wind development, the framework introduces additional filters through tourism regulations that exclude areas classified as tourist-saturated or underdeveloped. Although some areas, such as Thassos, have been exempted from new wind turbines, Andros is seeking legal recourse regarding the new guidelines.