Ptolemaida

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised residents in Megalopoli on Friday that future investments will help the town in the central Peloponnese deal with the impact of phasing out lignite. 

The doubling of coal-fired power generation by 2022 proved an elusive target and its contribution to electricity price containment correspondingly negligible. Things are expected to improve this year, as the commercial operation of the new Ptolemaida V lignite unit is expected to add 660 megawatts of power to PPC's brown coal potential.

Northern regions of Greece started seeing snow on Saturday, as a low pressure system, named Medea by the Athens Astronomical Observatory, started sweeping through the country.

Two more people died in Greece from Covid-19, bringing the new death toll at 108, according to media reports on Friday.

The first victim was a 92-year-old man who had an underlying illness and was being treated at a hospital in Ptolemaida, western Macedonia.

The second patient was a 78-year-old man in Athens' Sotiria Hospital who also suffered from a pre-existing condition.

A moderate earthquake, measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale, occurred near Ptolemaida in northern Greece on Wednesday afternoon.

There were no reports of any injuries or damage.

The temblor occurred at 3.20 p.m. some 11 kilometers east-northeast of the city at a depth of 11 kilometers, according to the Geodynamic Institute of the Athens National Observatory.

Three patients who were infected with the new coronavirus died in the past 12 hours, bringing Greece's death toll from the ongoing epidemic to 46.

A 79-year-old man died in the early hours of Tuesday at the Bodosakeio Hospital of Ptolemaida in the northern region Kozani, one of the harder hit parts of Greece.

Greek government expert and spokesman Sotiris Tsiodras on Monday confirmed that the death toll from Covid-19 in Greece has risen to 43 at regular press briefing on Monday, adding that new reported infections came to 56, down from Sunday's 95.

A second fatality from COVID-19 has been confirmed in Greece. The victim, a 90-year-old man, died at a hospital in the northern city of Ptolemaida.

The transition from mineral fuels such as lignite to renewable energy sources is bringing new investors to Greece.

On Monday, Germany's RWE is set to sign a memorandum of understanding with Public Power Corporation (PPC) for the joint construction of RES projects in Greece.

A group of Greek and US experts has sent the Energy Ministry an alternative proposal regarding the operation of Public Power Corporation's efficient lignite-powered units, such as Ptolemaida 5, beyond the termination deadline of 2028 that the National Plan for Energy and the Climate provides for.