Vatopedi Monastery

More than 1000 years ago, Orthodox monks began to build monasteries on the eastern finger of the Halkidiki peninsula and to create an autonomous monastic republic around Mount Athos. Although the digital age did not stop at just over 2,000 monks today, the desire for independence remains.

 Picture: Vatopedi Monastery (10th century) on Mount Athos/Greece 

The region around Mount Athos is richly forested and the resource wood can be used as a CO2-neutral energy supplier. The Vatopedi Monastery therefore decided to generate electricity and heat using renewable energies from Spanner Re² GmbH. On December 18, 2019, the first two wood-power plants of the HKA 70 type were delivered by truck and ferry and are currently in the commissioning phase. A third plant is already planned for a later date. With an annual availability of around 8,000 hours for the two systems, the large monastery and its immediate surroundings can supply itself with over 540,000 kWh of electrical and almost 1 MWh of thermal energy per year.