BRIEFING , illustration, Title photo sual icon or keyvi Georgia Nakou IS THE GREEK GREEN TRANSITION RUNNING OUT OF POWER? In his maiden speech to the UN in 2019, PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis positioned Greece at the forefront of the green transition by promising“a new, ambitious national strategy on energy and climate change”, centring on a rapid coal phase-out and a steep acceleration of renewable generation. Six years on, mid-way through his second term as prime minister, Mitsotakis has shifted his position, arguing that “the green transition cannot be an end in itself” and calling for a loosening of climate targets to support industrial competitiveness and social cohesion. While Greece has achieved notable success at boosting renewable capacity, it is also making a fresh push for offshore gas exploration, while continuing to build more gas-fired generation and investing in LNG infrastructure. We look at Greece’s mixed record at meeting the targets of the National Energy and Climate Plan(NECP) and identify the key forces shaping the policy response. “Energy transition” The lynchpin of the national energy plan drafted by the Mitsotakis administration shortly after taking office, was eliminating coal from the electricity mix in under a decade – the so-called“de-lignitisation” process. In 2019, emerging out of Greece’s ten-year debt crisis, the government’s priority was to find a new engine of growth, for which it looked for inspiration to the German“Energiewende”.“De­lignitisation” surpassed Germany’s coal-phase out targets and cast Mitsotakis as a global climate change leader. Around this goal, the incoming government redrafted the National Energy and Climate Plan in 2019. It then revised it in 2023 with more aggressive targets for renewables and emissions reduction, often exceeding the EU’s“Fit for 55” goals(Hellenic Republic Ministry of Environment and Energy 2024). Is the Greek green transition running out of power? 1