DEDDIE advances underground power cable program to reduce wildfire risks

The Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator (DEDDIE) is speeding up the program to place power cables underground, while another agency, the Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMIE), is implementing a program to connect islands to the national grid.

A main reason for rerouting the power cables underground is to prevent wildfires: DEDDIE announced this week that it had finished an underground section near the town of Lavrio, southeast of Athens, and had deactivated cables that passed through a protected forest area where a wildfire broke out earlier in the summer.

The cables and pylons will soon be removed. The underground sections of the power grid now exceed 29,500 kilometers, DEDDIE said.

The company has a budget of €267 million to continue expanding the underground cable segments until 2030, all provided through the European Union's...