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Off-grid in Kefalonia and Ithaca

Located in the Ionian Sea but close to the Greek mainland these two rugged islands have become major holiday destinations for tourists from all over Europe. Kefalonia is 787 km2 (52 x 23kms) with a coastline of 250 kms while Ithaca is only 118 km2 (29 x 6.5 kms). Kefalonia’s permanent population is only 36,000 and peaked at 70,000 in the 19th Century while Ithaca reached 14,000 in the 19th Century and currently has around 3,200. A mixture of poverty, war (both second world war and civil war) and earthquakes led to large scale migration to the US, Canada,  Australia and elsewhere in Europe.

On both islands a majority live in the main towns with 10,000 in Argostil (also location of airport) and 2,000 in Vathy, the capital of Ithaca. Kefalonia has several smaller towns mostly confined to the coast acting as local centres with shops and restaurants and ferry ports.

Difficult to imagine now with the beauty of these islands but both have  had a sad and turbulent history. At various times in their history they have been occupied by the Bryzantines, the Turks, Venetians, French, British and finally became part of a modern Greek state as late as 1864. However it was during and after the second world war that it suffered most being the site of a major conflict between Italian and German troops. After the war it was caught up in the civil war between the communists and pro government forces and finally after that ended in 1949 there was a major earthquake in 1953 which destroyed many of the buildings on the islands -but  many faithfully restored to their original beauty. Read the novel Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres to find a clear picture of the wartime history.

There were further earthquakes in 2003 and 2005 and bush fires in the 1990’s but strict procedures for earthquake proofing led to far less damage. But electrical infrastructure is always vulnerable.

Even until recently people were migrating to Athens and elsewhere in Europe especially the young and so both islands have an ageing population.

Tourism of all types but mostly small scale and increasingly eco tourism is by far the most important business on the islands. Apart from the beauty of the islands, the long hot summer lasting from April until October is particularly attractive to northern Europeans seeking to escape from their own rainy cold climates. Winters can be cold but there are still many long sunny days typical of a Mediterranean climate.

Most tourists come in the six summer months and in 2018 Kefalonia had an increase of 18% over 2017 with a total of 73,000 compared with 62,000 in 2017. This compares with 675,000 in the wider Ionian islands and the larger numbers on Corfu (331,000) and Zakynthos (199,000). 

 For the first time this more than doubled the population of the islands placing a great strain on the utilities including electricity, water supply and sewerage. On Ithaca the numbers are much smaller but still growing and emphasis there is on ecotourism. The island has also been threatened by massive resort development.

The only other activities are related to agriculture including local wines, olive pressing, cheese and vegetable for the many hotels and restaurants. Olive pressing on Ithaca is 100% organic and power is needed for bottling and packing.

Electricity is supplied mainly by an interconnector from the grid and Ithaca is connected through Kefalonia. On Ithaca there is an electricity office in Vathy but only open on certain days. Electricity is expensive throughout Greece(most expensive in the EU) and so offgrid solar installation is an attractive investment especially in remote villages and houses in the hills far from the grid.

Unsurprisingly the enormous increase in the temporary population and the high temperatures necessitating the use of air conditioning places a great strain on the electricity infrastructure(and other utilities). Consumption  increases more than 70 times in the summer months.

To cover demand during the summer, local power plants work at their limit, increasing the chances of an accident, like the black out in Santorini in 2013, while PPC(Greek power company) rents mobile units from private companies at prices which increase the already high production cost. In this way, a market has been set up which includes fuel, parts and mobile units, the maintenance of which explains the delays in building new interconnectors. Greece’s recent financial problems also account for delays in new investment. The intre connector on Kefalonia needs replacing to cope with higher electricity consumption. The EU has obliged Greece to replace old, polluting power plants and to achieve this by 2020 which is unlikely given the pandemic and much lower tourist numbers. Emphasis on new interconnectors is being concentrated in the Aegean so the Ionian islands have to wait which also is in conflict with the sustainable energy law of 2014 (see Greek Blog). 

Ithaca and its mythical Greek king, Odysseus (Ulysees) who completed his 10 year journey (see Homers epic poem) and settled in Ithaca. Perhaps if he had lived today he would have been attracted by the free solar energy of this beautiful island.

The wish of others to share natures bounty even if only for a few weeks every year has created enormous problems for the utilities on the two islands and Offgridinstaller is available to provide the perfect solution to high energy costs, interruptions to power but also protect the electricity supply from the problems of nature. Payback is rapid given the high production cost for electricity and if you are dependent on a generator, free sustainable energy is available now. 

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