Renewable energy sources account for an increasing share of power generation as reliance on lignite steadily decreases. PPC plans to end use of lignite in 2026.
PPC, Greece’s dominant electricity provider, showed strong operating profitability in the first nine months, allowing it to confirm its goals for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of 1.8 billion euros for 2024, along with a net profit of €350 million.
The company’s chairman and CEO, Georgios Stassis, also announced ambitious EBITDA goals for the near future, with average 14% annual growth allowing the operating profit to reach €2.7 billion by 2027 and over €3 billion by 2030.
Another goal is to raise the dividend from €0.25 per share in 2023 to €1 by 2027, the fastest such rise among European energy companies, Stassis said.
The company’s strategic plan for 2025-2027 is driven by investments topping €10 billion in renewable energy sources, so that PPC “can lead the energy transition in Southeastern Europe,” Stassis said on Thursday.
The company plans to wean itself off lignite, also known as brown coal, the highly polluting energy source that had long dominated power generation in Greece, by 2026. Beyond the company’s wish to contribute to greener energy generation, lignite has become a money-losing proposition, not least because of fines imposed on pollution generation.
“Installed capacity in [renewable energy sources] stood at 4.9 gigawatts at the end of September 2024 from 3.8 GW in September 2023. In the coming quarters RES installed capacity is expected to increase significantly due to a pipeline of 3.8 GW projects already in the under-construction or ready-to-build stage or in tender stage,” the company said in an announcement Wednesday. “Lignite output declined by approximately 30% in [the first nine months of] 2024 [versus the same period in] 2023 standing at 2.3 [terawatt-hours], representing 15% of PPC’s output. As a result, [carbon dioxide] emission intensity declined by 10.5% compared to [the first nine months of] 2023,” it added.
Electricity generation from renewable sources rose 44% from the same period in 2023 to 4.8 TWh, representing 31% of output.
Adjusted EBITDA for the first nine months of 2024 stood at €1.348 billion and adjusted net income at €305 million, from €178 million in the same period in 2023.