Operational Scenarios vs. Climate Crisis

The “bet” on sustainability and the new era for EYATH—driven by its expansion into neighboring municipalities and Halkidiki—set the tone for the remarks made by the company’s CEO, Anthimos Amanatidis. He participated in a discussion during the “Environment 360” conference, organized by the Hellenic Institute for Research and Development on November 14.

“As you know, EYATH does not formulate national water strategy; it is simply a manager of water resources. In this context, to address the challenges of the climate crisis and energy instability, we are developing operational scenarios based on the work of expert scientists who provide medium-term climate and hydrological forecasts. Naturally, long-term forecasts carry a degree of uncertainty—precisely because of the climate crisis—so we are working on alternative solutions that are both realistic and sustainable,” Mr. Amanatidis noted. “Our actions follow two main axes: (a) modernizing our infrastructure for the optimal management of the entire water cycle, and (b) increasing available water resources. We are examining measures to reduce our reliance on a single primary water source by leveraging alternatives—such as desalination, water recycling, dams, boreholes, and storage facilities (reservoirs),” he continued, going on to present applications of artificial intelligence in managing water supply and sewerage networks to conserve resources, as well as energy-saving initiatives—specifically the signing of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) under Law 4412/2016—to source energy from wind and photovoltaic plants.

Regarding EYATH’s expansion plans, Mr. Amanatidis clarified: “We are obviously committed to a sustainable future for water supply and sewerage across all areas currently under our responsibility or those that may be incorporated in the future.” “Our expansion into new areas and our broadened role involve three aspects: the institutional and legal dimension—such as the handling of municipal assets; the aspect of our own administrative restructuring to ensure the company incorporates all these changes in the legal framework; and, finally, the purely technical aspect,the inventory of existing networks, project requirements, infrastructure, and so on.”

The ELINEKA conference focused on the policies and needs of Thessaloniki and Northern Greece regarding waste management, water, energy, and infrastructure, all viewed through the lens of sustainable development.