Prinos and the North Sea: why the comparison doesn’t hold water
Prinos and the North Sea: why the comparison does not hold
An assessment of the Öko-Institut publication eco@work 09/2026 in the light of the particular conditions of
the Prinos area
A few days ago, on 15 September 2026, the German Öko-Institut published its new issue under the title «CCS – eine
sinnvolle Maßnahme für den Klimaschutz?» («CCS – a useful measure for climate protection?»). The publication
examines the role that CCS technology can play on the path towards climate neutrality and, under certain conditions,
identifies fields in which its application may be considered useful.
A different question, however, is of particular interest: to what extent are the same scientific and environmental
criteria applied to the assessment of CO₂ storage sites in the North Sea also applied in the case of Prinos?
That is precisely the purpose of this paper: to examine whether the criteria and conditions highlighted by this German
publication can be applied to the planned CCS project at Prinos.
This paper assesses a single publication and replaces neither a geological nor a legal expert opinion. Mapping the Öko-Institut’s
criteria onto the Prinos site is an analogy drawn from the state of the art, not an application of Greek law in force
The primary objective of this study is to provide a panoramic view and a shift in perspective—from the local context of Kavala and Thasos to a European approach to the issue. The CCS Prinos project[1] is not merely a local issue, but rather part of a pan-European strategy for decarbonization. It involves determining Greece’s position on this complex issue within the framework of a national development policy. If we continue to pursue a policy based on the idea of sacrificing our national land—with the goal of supplying clean energy primarily for export purposes, such as to data centers in the North, or burying CO2 emissions in our own backyard, it will neither produce nor create added value for our country.
