Chart of the Month Vol. 17 | Fueling a Sustainable Future: Waste-to-Energy Investment Landscape | Powered by Deloitte

The Chart of the Month Vol.17 is focused on “Fueling a Sustainable Future: Waste-to-Energy Investment Landscape”.

The EU generates 2.2 billion tonnes of waste annually. More than a quarter of it (27%) is municipal waste, which consists primarily of household waste collected and treated by municipalities. Data indicates that the total amount of waste and the way it is managed varies widely among EU member states, but there has been a shift towards increased recycling and decreased landfilling. Therefore, Waste-to-Energy plants have three benefits: replacement of imported fossil fuels, which benefits our balance of payments, increased security of supply due to reduced reliance on third countries; and environmental benefit due to a decrease in fugitive emissions from imported petrol.

Greece currently operates 66 biogas units with a total nominal power of approximately 100 MW, 13 of which, are Water Treatment Units/Landfills and 53 of which, are Agricultural and Livestock Units. The region with the highest biogas production is Attica with 39.2 MW capacity, while Central Macedonia follows with 24.8 MW capacity. In 2018, the energy utilization of the Municipal Solid Waste in Greece is 1.5%, and the target for 2025 is 18% and for 2030 is 32%. EU biomethane production might reach 41 bcm in 2030. Greece's 2030 anaerobic digestion and thermal gasification potentials are 0.51 and 0.03 bcm/year, respectively. Greece currently stands 10^th in terms of future biomethane production investment by 2030, with 150 € million allocated.