The Greek state has introduced a new national framework governing where renewable energy projects can be developed, imposing tighter restrictions on solar and wind installations in environmentally sensitive, culturally significant and tourism-intensive areas, while setting limits on the amount of land that can be occupied by new photovoltaic projects.
The framework covers major renewable technologies, including photovoltaic and wind farms, small hydropower, biomass, biogas, geothermal installations and, for the first time, energy-storage systems such as batteries. Existing projects and those that had reached an advanced stage of licensing before the framework was published are largely protected under the previous rules.
One of the most significant changes concerns solar power.
New photovoltaic installations are prohibited in all Natura 2000 areas, forests and forested land, Ramsar wetlands and small island wetlands, protected landscapes, World Heritage sites and protected archaeological zones, areas of particular natural beauty, protected terraces, designated roadless areas, swimming beaches and areas around sources of drinking water.
The framework also introduces a nationwide ceiling on new photovoltaic land coverage. New installations without prior environmental approval may occupy no more than 1.5% of the total area of each regional unit, a measure intended to prevent excessive concentration of solar projects and limit pressure on agricultural land and local landscapes.
The restrictions on wind power are similarly extensive, as wind farms are prohibited in Attica prefecture and the Thessaloniki metropolitan area, at elevations above 1,200 meters; in Ramsar wetlands and particularly protected landscapes, in core national park areas and on islands smaller than 300 square kilometers, except where projects are needed for critical or public-benefit infrastructure or system security.
Wind projects are also generally excluded from high-value tourism areas, certain protected Natura 2000 bird habitats, designated roadless areas, swimming beaches and areas around drinking-water sources. In Special Protection Zones for birds, wind farms may be considered only exceptionally, where an approved environmental study explicitly permits them and wind potential exceeds 7.5 meters per second.
The framework reflects a broader problem in Greece, namely, that land is under pressure from competing uses even as some agricultural areas are being abandoned.
Research examining Greek rural landscapes from 1970 to 2015 found a long-term decline in cropland, including arable land and vineyards, alongside an expansion of tree crops, particularly olives. Agricultural abandonment was especially pronounced in some tourism-oriented areas, including the Cyclades.
At the same time, urban expansion has consumed significant amounts of land. A 2024 study in Land Use Policy found that Greece’s urban footprint grew by about 70% between 1990 and 2018, with more than 1,700 square kilometers shifting from rural and forest land to urban uses. The study concluded that urban sprawl continued despite population stagnation and the economic crisis.
That history gives the new renewable-energy rules a significance beyond the siting of power plants.
The framework also extends to the sea, establishing rules for offshore renewable projects and linking their development to broader maritime spatial planning. Special studies and exclusion zones are intended to protect marine ecosystems.
The government presents the system as an attempt to replace case-by-case disputes with clearer national rules, allowing renewable investment to proceed while reducing conflicts over land use. The framework has an outlook to 2050 and is intended to support greater renewable generation, energy storage and electricity interconnections.
One widely disseminated claim in Greece, especially on social media, is maintains that certain wildfires in the country are deliberately ignited in order to clear land for wind farms and photovoltaic installations. The claim exploits genuine concerns over land-use conflicts, although evidence does not support a systematic practice.
Recent spatial analyses that have seen the light of day haven’t found a meaningful correlation between wildfires and subsequent wind-farm development, while several prominent claims about projects on burned land were shown to be false or misleading.
Wind farms can nevertheless overlap with wildfire-prone areas because both tend to occur in mountainous, remote and sparsely developed landscapes.
