Energy Savings in Chalki
Greek and French companies invested in the GR-eco program on Chalki Island, which began in 2021 and now “succeeds in reducing the island’s carbon footprint by 2,500 tonnes. This is the same as what is produced by 600 conventional cars,” says Vassilis Zafiropoulos, project developer on Chalki Island. For houses on the island, there are many benefits. Especially for a country where energy is a large portion of monthly wages, citizens of now find that their household electricity bills are zero euros. For small businesses, one shop owner notes that last year, their bill was €8,000. This year, it was cut to €1,500. The GR-eco Islands project also offers free electricity for cars on Chalki Island, and the police are one of the first groups to take advantage. In addition, Chalki locals installed a smart tourist kiosk, a solar bench, solar-powered phone chargers, and an IoT fleet control service in the town center. The mayor of Chalki, Evangelos Fragakakis, is very proud of the project. He notes that “It has taken funding from the EU to bring the GR-eco idea to other islands of Greece.” For more eco-friendly projects in the Greek islands, read more here.
Want to visit Chalki Island?
Chalki is visitable by boat from Rhodes - the trip takes about 2 hours. For the adventurous, there is also a boat directly from Athens, but it is not recommended since it takes 20 hours to arrive at this faraway island. The best time to visit the island of Chalki is from April to November, when there is a warm temperature are little rain. In August, the weather can be oppressively warm because the Dodecanese island chain does not have the same Meltemi winds like the islands of the Aegean. Other activities on the island of Chalki include swimming in the secluded beaches, enjoying the local foods at local tavernas, and walking along the local footpaths. The island of Chalki is relatively hilly, so there are hilltops with views to the sea. It's always worth ending the day with a drink at a local seaside cafe-bar.