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NAXOS, Greece — A modest stone building high above the Aegean Sea on the windswept west end of one of Greece’s largest islands has become an unlikely outpost in this country’s fight against climate change.

Inside is a new power station camouflaged, connected to a 180-mile submarine power cable. connects Naxos in a chain of the islands, other breezy holiday playgrounds that allow them to abandon their oil-burning generators for renewable energy from Greece’s plentiful wind and sun.

The nearby islands have become zero-carbon labs for companies like Volkswagen to roll out electric cars and build cable communities for clean energy. Changes are also underway on the mainland, where the dirty lignite coal mines that have fed Greece for decades are fast-tracked for closure.

The push for a clean energy transition appears to be a challenge for Greece, a country of nearly 10 million that has recently emerged from a devastating debt crisis of a decade and still relies heavily on fossil fuels for power.

But as the European Union wants to be a world leader In the race to stop climate change, Greece is betting that moving towards a carbon-neutral future could reshape its economic destiny.

“The growth of the economy is inextricably linked to making ourselves as independent as possible from energy,” said conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who took office in 2019, pledging to rebuild Greece partly based on the environmental agenda.

“Greece could be a paradigm for how energy transition and climate action can create jobs and sustainable growth,” he said in an interview.

It matters whether Greece is successful or not. While wealthier European countries like Norway and Denmark are taking steps to restructure their economies to be more climate-friendly, Greece provides a test case of whether – and how effectively – Europe’s poorer states can turn away from fossil fuels. change.

Transformation is necessary and strategic. The Greek economy is expected to recover by 6.1 percent this year after shrinking by about 10 percent during the pandemic and a quarter during the debt crisis. But the government still needs to attract billions of clean energy investments to help. overcome mountain of debt and a 14 percent unemployment rate and a more solid foundation for future growth.

Greece Obtaining strong financial support to realize these efforts: 30 billion euros (about $35 billion) – equivalent to one-fifth of the Greek economy – from a European Union recovery fund It was designed to power a recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The shift has already raised blood pressure. Villages are trying to block wind turbines, arguing that they will turn away tourists, Greece’s main source of income. Citizens are agitating about the loss of mining jobs. The spike in the price of natural gas, a fuel used to drive the transition from oil to renewable energy, is hitting the poorest households and forcing the government to subsidize costs.

Yet the vexing cost of climate change creates urgency. Greece this summer ravaged by the worst wildfires over the years, when temperatures reach 46 degrees Celsius or 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Houses were razed and thousands of people were displaced. Almost no corner of Europe was unaffected by the extreme weather, be it fire. flood or heat.

underwater cable attached to Naxos, Greece’s strategy attracting critical renewable energy investments. The idea is to build Greece’s missing infrastructure to provide more solar and wind power cycles on the national grid. Greece aims to produce 60 percent of its energy from renewable energy sources by 2030. climate neutral until 2050.

BlackRock, Quantum Energy Partners and Fortress Investment Group have said they see a potential payoff from investing in green development here. American, Chinese and European companies are installing wind and solar parks, hydroelectric power plants and hydrogen and battery projects to store renewable energy.

The shift has been a long time. With turbines and solar panels scattered across the country, Greece has clung to oil and lignite coal for decades. vested Greek oil industry interests prevented change. The Greek islands used oil-burning electric generators that cost billions of dollars to operate and emit more than 2.8 million tons of carbon per year. Investors have been spooked by the insurmountable bureaucracy and licenses waiting for up to 10 years to build wind or solar farms – something the government has promised to streamline.

About half of Greece’s energy was still supplied by petroleum products in 2017. However, renewable energy and imported natural gas are no longer get a bigger share.

submarine cable It will unite the most popular tourist islands of Greeceincluding Mykonos and SantoriniNikos Margoutas, project manager of the state utility operator overseeing the exchange, said it has connected them to the mainland power grid for the first time and has more than quadrupled their energy capacity. Another cable, described as the world’s longest cable, will eventually connect the mainland and Crete, Greece’s largest island and the island with the most promise for solar and wind power.

One recent afternoon, the goosebumps of high-voltage electricity crackled on a howling wind outside the Naxos substation, which is hidden inside the stone house specially designed so as not to dazzle tourists.

“We are laying the foundations for Greece’s green future,” said Mr. Margoutas, stretching his arm out into the deep blue expanse of the Aegean.

The cable has significantly improved life on the island. Blackouts were routine for years by cutting off the lighting at the iconic Temple of Apollo, forcing restaurants to throw out chilled octopuses, and preventing vacationers from charging their cell phones.

There has been no interruption since the cable arrived.

“It was romantic – you could see the stars,” recalls Naxos mayor Dimitris Lianos. But that was a big problem for businesses and visitors.”

a parallel program aims to return 20 small islands It will be converted into zero-emission testing grounds for companies partnering with the Greek government.

Volkswagen replaces cars and public transport on the island astypalaia, with electric vehicles powered by solar energy sources where it is installed. On the island of Halki, where only 300 people live, French energy giant Vinci is installing photovoltaic fields to run street lighting, homes and businesses at low cost or for free.

Yet despite all the benefits of the green energy transition, a number of problems remain.

Environmental groups say the government is cleaning with one hand while polluting with the other.

They cite massive gas exploration projects taking place in the Ionian Sea near Crete, Corfu and other islands, which Mr Mitsotakis argues are essential to obtain a critical resource for the clean energy transition. New licenses were granted to Exxon Mobil, Total and Hellenic Petroleum during the financial crisis when Greece faced staggering debts. Some potential drilling sites ignited near Turkey geopolitical tensions.

Others are dissatisfied with the idea of ​​huge wind turbines disrupting the tourist-attracting landscape, the only activity Greece does well. Last month, on the island of Tinos, known in Greek mythology as the home of the wind god for its breezes, seven people were reported injured after police clashed with protesters trying to stop a truck from carrying a giant wind turbine blade up the mountain.

The backlash on the islands has become so violent that authorities are considering installing floating turbines and solar platforms.

“The government cannot come up with arrogance and say, ‘We have investors and we are entering,'” said Nikos Charalambides, head of Greenpeace Greece, which supports moves towards renewable energy. adequate consultation.

More than 8,000 mining jobs on the mainland are threatened by Mr Mitsotakis’ plans to shut down all but one of Greece’s 14 lignite coal-fired electricity generator units by 2023. In response, the government has promised to transform the hardest-hit areas, including the West. Macedonia and Megalopolis, a coal town in the Peloponnese, became sites where new types of business would emerge.

NS plans are ambitiousHe called for carbon-neutral agriculture, photovoltaic fields, sustainable tourism and entrepreneurial start-up campuses that would theoretically modernize Greece and create up to 200,000 new jobs in energy and the environment.

Critics are skeptical. The Greeks understand that the country has no choice but to move forward, said Mr Charalambides of Greenpeace.

“This is an opportunity for him to create new jobs and a new perspective for the economy and society,” he said.

“Greece is exhausted from the financial crisis and very inefficient as a state,” he said. “If the green energy transition works here, there is nowhere in Europe where it cannot work.”

Niki Kitsantoniscontributing reporting.