Germany is offering to help Greece develop environmentally friendly power plants on its Aegean islands, German Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Friday during a three-day visit to Athens.

"In energy production, nothing has better value than investment in wind and photovoltaic technology," he told a conference of energy industry leaders.

Gabriel said the aim is to bring clean energy to the islands in question, with only 21 out of 53 linked to the national power grid and the rest dependent on dirty diesel-powered electricity generators.

Business opportunities

The German minister was accompanied by representatives from several renewable power industry firms hoping to strike deals with their Greek counterparts.

"Every good example is worth 10 times more than theoretical discussions," Gabriel said in Athens, with company representatives indicating that the Greek island of Tilos lent itself perfectly for the construction of a smart power and storage grid able to supply up to 80 percent of the locals with green energy.

Germany's KfW state bank is contributing 100 million euros ($112 million) to a special Greek growth fund in support of such green-energy projects. There are also plans to build more wind farms in Greece, but talks with regional authorities have been dragging on.

Germany is among the global leaders in the development of renewable power sources such as wind, solar and biofuel plants as it is in the process of phasing out nuclear energy at home.

hg/sri (dpa, Reuters)