Western Attica: spatial plan brakes new wind farms

The new Special Spatial Planning Framework for Renewable Energy Sources, the content of which was presented on Wednesday 19 August 2026, reshapes the regime that had been in force since 2008 and puts a definitive brake on the installation of new wind turbines across the whole Athens basin. The plan provides for a horizontal exclusion of new wind farms, a provision that directly affects the areas outside the town plan in Aspropyrgos, Elefsina, Mandra-Eidyllia, Megara and Fyli, that is the parts of Western Attica where most of the investment pressure had been concentrated until now. As the competent ministry clarifies, these rules will become binding only once the approval procedure is completed and the relevant Government Gazette issue is published, while projects already in operation or at an advanced licensing stage before 20 May 2026 remain protected.

For photovoltaics the approach is different. There is no general ban, but a much stricter siting framework: the total coverage by new photovoltaic stations will not be allowed to exceed 1.5% of the area of each regional unit, while installations in protected Natura areas, in forests and on archaeological sites are explicitly excluded. This parameter is critical for the plain of Elefsina, where farmland coexists with extensive archaeological sites. By contrast, self-generation systems on the roofs of homes and industrial buildings are entirely exempt from the restrictions, which keeps open the path to energy self-sufficiency for the area’s plants without new land being taken up.

Of particular importance for an area with heavy industry and extensive logistics facilities is the inclusion of energy storage units, that is battery systems, in spatial planning. Their installation will now depend on the permitted land uses and on safety distances, while small units below one megawatt are exempt from the Special Spatial Framework, though they retain their basic town-planning and environmental obligations. The matter directly concerns the Thriasio Plain, where the concentration of manufacturing and warehousing activity creates demand for local energy storage, but also raises safety questions for neighbouring residential areas.

At the same time, following the wildfires that struck Boeotia and spread into Western Attica, the leadership of the Ministry of Environment and Energy is announcing changes for September to the regulatory framework for private electricity networks, aiming to intensify supervision and to assign clear responsibility to operators for the maintenance of their installations. As the full undergrounding of the DEDDIE network is judged financially unfeasible, the interventions are expected to be prioritised in a targeted way, starting with points of high risk and environmental sensitivity. For the municipalities of Western Attica, which have already had to deal with repeated fire fronts this summer, the critical question remains exactly when the Government Gazette issue will be published and how the new rules will be applied in practice.