Transnational energy flows, capacity building and Greece's quest for energy autarky, 1914–2010

This article reconstructs the transformation of the Greek energy system during the past hundred years, with a special focus on the dynamics of the country's foreign energy dependencies. The years after World War II saw the rise of domestic lignite and, to a lesser extent, hydropower as the most important energy sources in the country's electrical system, while at the same time the state took a firm grip of energy sector through the establishment of the Public Electricity Company (PPC). We reconstruct how state actors as well as corporate stakeholders organized policies and legitimized energy technologies in search of energy autarky and security while at the same time the energy system – especially in oil and gas – became strongly dependent on imports. Later on natural gas was introduced, being imported mainly from the USSR and Algeria, for substituting highly polluting (imported) oil- and (domestic) lignite-based electricity plants. In recent years gas has offered a new opportunity for Greece to establish itself as a hub in a wider international transmission system. The paper argues that Greek actors defined and redefined energy sources and technologies in relation to political priorities, regimes of competition and broader societal pressures in a way that had a deep impact on Greece's energy import dependence.