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Article

Energy Transition in Greece: A Regional and National Media Analysis

by
Nikolaos Koukouzas
1,*,
George S. Maraslidis
2,*,
Christos L. Stergiou
2,
Theodoros Zarogiannis
1,
Eleonora Manoukian
1,
Julia Haske
3,
Stefan Möllerherm
3 and
Barbara Rogosz
4
1
Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute (CPERI), Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), 15125 Athens, Greece
2
Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute (CPERI), Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), 50200 Ptolemaida, Greece
3
Research Center of Post-Mining, Technische Hochschule Georg Agricola, Herner Str. 45, 44787 Bochum, Germany
4
“Poltegor Institute” Institute of Opencast Mining, Parkowa 25, 51-616 Wrocław, Poland
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Energies 2025, 18(17), 4595; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18174595
Submission received: 31 July 2025 / Revised: 22 August 2025 / Accepted: 27 August 2025 / Published: 29 August 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Insights On and Challenges in Energy Transition During Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery: Energy Cost, Security, Wellbeing, and Other Second-Round Effects)
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Abstract

Media coverage plays a pivotal role in shaping public perception of the energy transition. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of how the lignite phase-out is represented in Greece, both by national and regional media, with a specific focus on the impacted region of Western Macedonia. Using data from the Leipzig Corpora Collection and regional news portals from 2013 to 2022, the analysis reveals significant divergences between media levels. While both show synchronized peaks for key terms like “Climate change” (2019) and “Western Macedonia” (2021), regional media addressed the direct impacts of the transition earlier and more intensely, with terms like “post-lignite” and “de-lignification” peaking in 2020 following the announcement of the Master Plan. National media framed the transition within a broader, top-down policy context, often with an optimistic tone, reflecting EU directives. In contrast, regional media provided a community-centric perspective, highlighting concerns over job losses and the preservation of local identity. The findings underscore a clear tension between official narratives of progress and local-level concerns, demonstrating that media discourse is a critical, multi-faceted component of just transition processes that policymakers must consider.

1. Introduction

The rapid lignite phase-out in Greece, initiated in 2019, has had a profound impact on the social and economic fabric of the region of Western Macedonia, an area that, for over six decades, hosted the most extensive and technologically advanced lignite mining operations in the country [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Historically, domestic lignite has played a dominant role in the energy mix of Greece, accounting for over 70% of electricity generation and approximately 30% of primary energy consumption during the early 2000s [8,9,10]. As one of the most significant indigenous energy resources, between 2000 and 2009, Greece was positioned as the second-largest lignite producer in the European Union and the fourth globally, with an annual output of around 70 million tonnes [8,9,10]. Nearly 97% of this production was supplied by the Public Power Corporation S.A. (PPC) to fuel lignite-fired power plants [8].
In alignment with the vision of the European Union for a climate-neutral Europe by 2050 and a gradual departure from coal, Greece emerged as one of the first countries to design and implement a comprehensive policy for transitioning to cleaner forms of energy for electricity generation [11,12,13,14,15]. The region of Western Macedonia, long considered the energy heartland of the country, was central to this process [8,9,10]. Its lignite-rich subsoil sustained the PPC-operated power plants in the Amyntaion–Ptolemaida Basin for more than 60 years [8,9,10,16,17,18] (Figure 1). Since 2018, the decommissioning of all but one of these power plants and their associated mines has been gradual. According to the National Master Plan for Just Development Transition of Greece, the final lignite unit, Ptolemaida V, which was commissioned only recently, is also expected to cease operations by 2028. However, its future utilization remains under discussion, with plans to convert it into a gas-fired unit [14,19].
Instead of a single external directive, a combination of structural, economic, and policy imperatives led the government to phase-out lignite in Greece [1,2,3,4,5,6]. From a policy perspective, EU climate law significantly changed the economics of lignite: after free allowances were removed in 2013, the price of carbon emissions under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) rose rapidly, rendering lignite power less and less profitable [21,22]. At the same time, lignite plants had to undergo costly environmental modifications to comply with the Industrial Emissions Directive, which increased their financial burden [2,3,7,9,23]. Renewable technologies became more affordable on the energy market, as wind and solar auction costs dropped sharply below the price of power produced using lignite [24,25]. However, given that lignite contributed up to 34% of the Greek CO2 emissions between 1990 and 2017, one of the highest percentages in the EU, public health and environmental concerns forced lignite to the fore of the climate policy discussion in the country [2]. In conclusion, binding EU climate targets, such as the European Green Deal and National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) obligations, rising operating costs, and the promising rise of renewable alternatives all influenced the decision to phase out lignite by 2028 [12,26].
The issue has been widely covered in the media, particularly in recent years, with national and local outlets reporting extensively on policy decisions and the positions of key stakeholders. In Western Macedonia, the region most affected by the transition, local media (including newspapers, websites, television, and radio) have provided a platform for debate among community leaders and residents regarding the future of the area in the post-lignite era. This study investigates how local Greek media have framed the attempted lignite phase-out and the broader energy transition, marking the first empirical attempt to understand the public perception of de-lignitization through media discourse analysis. Building upon earlier findings, such as those highlighting the tension between employment concerns and environmental quality in lignite-dependent communities [27], the present research examines media narratives as key intermediaries between policy decisions and public sentiment. By focusing on the region of Western Macedonia in Greece, where the transition was announced abruptly and implemented on a compressed timeline, the analysis contributes to the broader understanding of how societal acceptance or resistance may be shaped by media coverage. The way media news communicates the energy transition at a regional, national, or even international level has been the focus of several publications worldwide [28,29,30,31,32], and only a few have developed targeted coding to extract and explore online data, e.g., [33].
Methodologically, the study draws from the integrated framework of the Web INTEractive management tool for coal Regions in transition (WINTER) research project, with a particular focus on its socio-economic dimension. Using the Leipzig Corpora Collection, a large-scale, text-mining database built from publicly available online news sources, the Greek case study was examined alongside comparative media data from Poland and Germany. The analysis employed three interconnected components: statistical profiling of content (e.g., frequency, distribution), discursive analysis (e.g., sentiment and tone), and temporal evaluation of perception shifts. Co-occurrence analysis was used to map semantic associations and identify media agendas. The results revealed how different narrative frames, such as job loss, energy autonomy, and climate responsibility, intersect in shaping public discourse around the post-lignite future in Greece.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Research Framework

The media analysis concerning the energy transition in Greece was implemented within the broader scope of the WINTER project, which adopts a multi-dimensional framework to assess the implications of energy transition in coal-dependent regions across Europe, e.g., [34,35]. The WINTER research project (funded by the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS)) examined three coal regions in the European Union, namely Western Macedonia in Greece, the Konin region in Poland, and the Ruhr area in Germany. The Western Macedonia and Konin regions, being in the early stages of coal transition, were examined in comparison to the case study of the Ruhr area, which offered valuable insights and strategies deriving from its decades-long experience as a mature coal transition region [36,37]. The present research focuses on the socio-economic dimension, particularly public perception as shaped by media discourse. The research methodology implemented in the study is summarized in Figure 2 and presented below in detail.

2.2. Media Landscape and Theoretical Basis

The media play a pivotal role in shaping public understanding of environmental policy and energy transition [38,39,40]. Central to the analysis is the concept of “agenda-cutting”, which refers to the selective portrayal of issues by media, often reflecting editorial biases or assumptions about audience interests [41]. This process defines which topics dominate public discourse and which voices are included or marginalized [41]. As such, media framing becomes a key mechanism through which public perceptions of the lignite phase-out are formed and circulated. The upcoming subsections of this article describe the principal datasets and methodological instruments, drawing on both statistical and interpretative dimensions, used to rigorously examine that framing and to uncover recurrent motifs in the journalistic discussions.

2.3. Data Source for National Media Analysis: Leipzig Corpora Collection

To conduct a data-driven analysis of Greek national media content, this study utilized the Leipzig Corpora Collection (LCC), a large-scale, multilingual linguistic database composed of text corpora drawn from publicly accessible online sources, primarily news outlets [42]. The Greek news corpora provided by LCC span from 2013 to 2022, with substantial sentence-based datasets derived through systematic web crawling and RSS harvesting (Table 1), e.g., [43,44]. For reasons of copyright compliance, texts were anonymized, broken into single sentences, and randomized. In total, 26 corpora, 10 initially available and 16 added by the Institute for Applied Informatics (InfAI), formed the empirical foundation for analysis.
Between 2019 and 2022, the public Wortschatz Portal hosted three downloadable news corpora for the Greek language. To enhance coverage and increase the volume of available data, the InfAI institute processed and released an additional four new Greek corpora spanning the years 2013 to 2022. These newly available corpora, derived from RSS-feed news sources, were integrated into the Wortschatz Portal and made publicly accessible via the web interface. These corpora enabled both manual querying and large-scale linguistic analysis across the Greek language.
The methodological approach combined quantitative, discursive, and temporal analysis, implemented through the following three analytical components: (1) Statistical Evaluation: This involved metadata profiling (e.g., frequency of keywords, number of entries, location of sources, demographic trends where available) to identify patterns in media attention over time; (2) Discursive Reflection: Sentiment and tonal analysis were applied to interpret how the lignite phase-out was framed, whether positively, negatively, or neutrally, within different media outlets; and (3) Retrospective Observation: This diachronic component tracked changes in thematic emphasis and tone across the corpora from 2013 to 2022, thereby identifying shifts in public discourse corresponding to key political decisions and events.
To systematically analyze the media corpora, a custom search program was developed to automate the keyword retrieval process. The application utilized shell commands to perform case-insensitive searches across all article titles, and it used root keywords (stems) to account for grammatical variations (inflections) in the Greek language. This initial process extracted all relevant titles into text files aggregated by keyword and year, calculating the following key metrics: (1) frequency, defined as the absolute number of occurrences of a word in the corpus; (2) rank, which is the position in the frequency-sorted word list (e.g., “the” = rank 1); and (3) frequency class, referring to the logarithmic class reflecting relative frequency.
Following this automated retrieval, the next critical step was to ensure the contextual relevance of the findings, as general keywords are not always used in a manner pertinent to the energy transition. To address this challenge of semantic ambiguity, a two-pronged approach was employed.
As an initial layer of contextual definition, all keywords were organized into six distinct thematic categories (A–F) (Table 2). This framed each keyword within its intended domain. Second, to validate the context of each specific mention, the study employed co-occurrence analysis using the in-built word graph visualizations of the LCC. Co-occurrences, defined as words that statistically appear near a target term, were assessed using the log-likelihood ratio as a significance measure. Terms frequently co-occurring in the same sentence or in adjacent positions were visualized as interconnected nodes or word graphs, with edge widths representing the strength of association. This allowed the identification of dominant themes (e.g., job loss, climate goals, and energy security) and how these were semantically connected in public discourse.
This method allowed for the disambiguation of keywords by analyzing their lexical context. For instance, the relevance of the keyword “Plant” (Category A) was confirmed when it co-occurred with terms like “PPC”, “power”, or “lignite”, while the keyword “Transition” (Category C) was validated by its proximity to terms like “energy”, “green”, or “just” (from Category F). This dual approach of thematic categorization followed by co-occurrence validation ensures a high degree of methodological transparency and confirms that the quantitative analysis is based on contextually relevant data.

2.4. Web Scraping of Regional Greek News Sources and Definition of Media Attributes

To construct a Greek regional media database, a custom web-scraping protocol was implemented under the WINTER project. From the seventeen media portals located in the region of Western Macedonia, three portals were selected for scraping and analysis (Table 3). The analyzed portals include “e-ptolemeos.gr”, “kozan.gr”, and “eordaia.org”, and they were selected based on geographical proximity to power plants and data availability, while sites with non-original or reposted content, or with articles only from 2020 onward, were excluded (Table 3). The dataset development used Python 3 and the BeautifulSoup library 4, and a tailored scraping algorithm was developed for each selected news portal.
The scraper algorithm effectively parsed headlines from every accessible article, captured HTML title tags iteratively across archive pages, and exported titles as plain text with one title per line. In addition, headlines were collected and categorized by year, forming three annualized corpora per news site (Table 3).
Search terms (attributes) used for media discourse analysis were developed using expert knowledge to ensure they met specific criteria. Categories A–F (e.g., Solidarity/Identity, Technical Tasks) were identified to organize the statistical evaluation of media content related to coal transition. The Leipzig Corpora Collection was utilized as a free tool for corpus-based analysis, supplemented by web scraping from news sites crawled via RSS feeds. Articles were categorized by publication year and analyzed against predefined search attributes, despite challenges like duplicate entries and short sentences.

3. Results

The findings from the media analysis concerning the energy transition in Greece are presented, differentiating between national and regional media coverage. The analysis focuses on keyword occurrences, temporal trends, co-occurring terms, and the sentiment conveyed in media reports. Greece possesses a diverse and competitive national media landscape, encompassing television, radio, newspapers, and online news providers. Prominent national newspapers like “Kathimerini”, “Eleftheros Typos”, “Ta Nea”, “Realnews”, and “To Vima” cover extensive topics. National television networks (e.g., ERT, ANT1, Mega Channel, Alpha TV, Open TV, STAR Channel, and Skai TV) and numerous radio stations offer a variety of programming. Digital news platforms are increasingly popular, providing instant access to news. The national media environment grapples with issues of media ownership, political influence, and financial sustainability, which can impact journalistic quality and independence. In Western Macedonia, local and regional media (newspapers, radio, TV, and online platforms) are crucial for disseminating local news, covering politics, economy, culture, and community affairs, though they face financial challenges from limited advertising and national competition. Overall, both regional and national media reflect broader developments, with local channels vital for informing residents despite resource concerns, and national outlets offering varied coverage amidst challenges related to ownership and independence.

3.1. National Level Media Analysis

3.1.1. Solidarity/Identity (Category A)

The terms “plant” and “Western Macedonia” were prominent content-related words (Figure 3a). “Plant” showed a peak in mentions during 2019–2020, often about energy production facilities (Figure 3b,c). Early co-occurrences in 2013 related to international events (e.g., nuclear incidents in Fukushima), while in 2019 the discourse turned toward domestic energy developments such as the initiation by PPC of a new steam power plant in Ptolemaida. The word also frequently appeared alongside “fire”, “Volkswagen”, and “Gas Combined Cycle”, indicating both industrial relevance and concerns around safety or sustainability (Figure 3c). “Western Macedonia” was consistently associated with the coal transition narrative, especially in 2021, implying it was frequently mentioned in that year within the context of Category A Solidarity/Identity (Figure 3d). Co-occurring terms included “lignite”, “de-lignification”, and references to administrative regions of Greece (Figure 3e). The sentiment analysis shows a progression: optimistic or supportive tones in 2019–2020 (e.g., mentions of fair transition and EU resource allocation), critical concern in 2021 (economic and social implications for residents), and a return to optimistic framing in 2022 (e.g., completion of the ELPE photovoltaic project).

3.1.2. Site Development (Category B)

This category highlighted the terms “de-lignification” and “waste” (Figure 4a). The keyword “de-lignification” emerged prominently from 2018 onwards, marking the start of the official lignite phase-out. It peaked in 2021, following the announcement of the Greek Master Plan and the Just Transition Development Plan (Figure 4b). The media framed de-lignification largely positively, highlighting the leadership of Greece in transitioning to renewable energy and the environmental benefits involved. Co-occurring terms included “energy”, “Renewable Energy Sources” (RES), and “environment” (Figure 4c). “Waste” appeared across different industrial contexts (e.g., nuclear waste, urban waste, electronic waste, and mining waste), although only sparse references were made to coal mining waste. Mentions were neutral to positive, peaking in 2018 and 2020 (Figure 4d).

3.1.3. Regional Development (Category C)

Keywords in this category included “lignite” and “mine”, which reflect the economic and environmental complexities of the coal transition (Figure 5). “Lignite” showed an upward trend in coverage starting from 2018, with changing sentiment (Figure 6a). Initially framed as the cornerstone of Greek energy production, it later attracted negative sentiment and was described as unsustainable, polluting, and economically unviable (Figure 6b). Co-occurrences included “P.P.C.”, “gas”, “polluting”, and “expensive” (Figure 6b). Headlines from 2018 onward show a shift toward recognizing the drawbacks of lignite dependence, with public discourse questioning its replacement by imported natural gas. “Mine” followed a similar trajectory, with increasing mentions from 2018 to 2022, showing only a dip in 2020, probably due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Figure 6c). It was linked to specific locations such as Amyntaion, which suffered a major landslide incident [45]. Other frequent co-occurrences included “P.P.C.”, “workers”, “energy”, and “RES” (Figure 6d). Media coverage reflected concerns over environmental safety, employment, and the future use of mining sites in the post-lignite era. The broader term “Transition” notably shifted in 2018 towards discussions related to energy and sustainable transitions, particularly focusing on the transformation of regions (Figure 6e). Subsequently, in 2022, “green” emerged as the predominant co-occurring term, followed by “energy” and “digital”, providing a clear social acceptance of “Just Transition” in national Greek media (Figure 6f).

3.1.4. Technical Tasks (Category D)

The category technical tasks represented “drainage” and “geotechnical” (Figure 7a–c). “Drainage” increased from 2019, peaking in 2020, primarily linked to “water” and “rainwater”, with only indirect, non-content-related references to industrial waste. “Geotechnical” had low trend rates, with increased entries in 2021, connected to “study” and “static”, but not directly related to the coal transition.

3.1.5. Landscape Zone (Category E)

The term “solar park” appeared in media results, directly related to the coal transition in regions historically reliant on coal (Figure 7d). For the first time, it appeared in 2013, with a continuous rise from 2018 onwards, driven by announcements of large-scale developments in Western Macedonia and potential job creation, maintaining a positive perception (Figure 7e). After 2020, a steady rise continued, possibly due to reporting on new photovoltaic parks (Figure 7e). “Territorial plans” had no occurrences from 2013 to 2021 in the context of coal transition but peaked in 2021 following announcements of a just development transition in Western Macedonia, receiving positive feedback (Figure 7d,f).

3.1.6. Perception EU (Category F)

All terms in category F showed an increasing trend from 2013 to 2022, signifying the onset of the energy transition era in Greece (Figure 8). “National Climate Act”, “Climate Change”, “Climate Crisis”, and “European Directive” were directly linked to Greece adopting the European Climate Law in 2022 (Figure 9a–d). The “National Climate Act” appeared in 2020, increasing until 2022, with a positive public perception (Figure 9a). “Climate change” (peaked in 2019) and “Climate Crisis” (peaked in 2021) showed increasing trends but carried a negative sense, reflecting societal views on the challenging issue, co-occurring with words like “worst”, “scenario”, and “humanity” (Figure 9b,c and Figure 10a). The “European directive” (peaked in 2019) was mainly neutral, informing about emission control obligations (Figure 9d).
Terms like “Transition”, “Energy Transition”, “Just Transition”, and “Green Transition” clearly depicted the beginning of the post-lignite era, first appearing in 2018 with a neutral to positive sense that increased towards 2022 (Figure 8 and Figure 9e,f). This shift is evident when comparing media discussions from 2016 (focused on the financial crisis) to 2022 (focused on energy transition). “De-carbonization”, “European Green Deal”, and “Sustainable Development Goals” reflected European policy towards greenhouse gas reduction and the shift to greener technologies, increasing from 2018 to 2021 with a neutral to positive sense (Figure 8). “De-carbonization” in 2022 was also related to the shipping sector (Figure 10d).

3.2. Regional Level Media Analysis

3.2.1. Solidarity/Identity (Category A)

It is worth mentioning that more entries of the word “plant” are in 2022 (Figure 11a). The term “plant” may refer to a number of industries and activities. The increase in the occurrences 2022 of the word “plant” could be attributed to the discussion about the local power plants and their transformation in the local media. Similar to “plant”, the term “Western Macedonia” had more occurrences in 2021, implying that it was frequently mentioned in that year within the context of Category A (Figure 11b). This finding coincides with the number of occurrences of the term “Western Macedonia” at the national level, implying that the local-level analysis catches the same trend for the word that represents the region where transition occurs (Figure 3d and Figure 11b).

3.2.2. Site Development (Category B)

“De-lignification” is a term referring to the phasing out of lignite mining and power production in Greece. The term first appeared in 2018, as it was the year the Greek government announced the transition from lignite (Figure 11c). A peak number of entries in 2020 corresponds to the issuing of the Master Plan for the transition process, the Just Transition Development Plan (Figure 11c). This is to be expected on a local level, as the local communities of Western Macedonia are largely dependent on the operation of the lignite mines and the power stations, and consequently, they are the most affected by the transition. The number of entries may also be attributed to a gradual decrease over the years, probably because the energy transition is a more salient issue in these areas, as the transition is well underway.
“Waste” is a very broad term that may refer to a variety of industries and activities, with mining waste being the most relevant to transition. On a local level, there is a general increasing trend, which may, in part, be attributed to the land rehabilitation works that have been undertaken in the region of Western Macedonia in recent years (Figure 11d). The trend, however, may also be attributed to other types of industries, apart from lignite mining; therefore, no specific conclusion can be derived on the specific type of industry the word “waste” refers to. Although “post lignite” is a keyword that has low occurrences in national media, there are references to the term in news titles before 2019 in local media, with the highest frequencies occurring in 2020. This confirms that the transition was actively discussed in local media.

3.2.3. Regional Development (Category C)

The highest number of entries for “Transition” appeared in 2020 on two local websites, “e-ptolemeos.gr” and “kozan.gr” (Figure 12b). The Master Plan for the transition process was issued in 2020, stimulating discussions in local news. Local media seem to have captured the trend of “transition” earlier than national media (2021). “Lignite” shows a varying trend through local news media at the three local websites that were chosen for Western Macedonia (Figure 12c). Starting from 2016 through 2023, it has two peaks in 2017 and 2019, but the highest frequency appears in 2022. The word “mine” shows the same increasing trend; however, it had a high peak in 2017 after a huge landslide that happened at the lignite mines of Amyntaion (Figure 12d).

3.2.4. Technical Tasks (Category D)

Regarding the local media analysis in category D, the word “drainage” appears infrequently during the period of 2016–2023 (Figure 13a). Specifically, the word appeared with low frequency in 2017 on the site “e-ptolemeos.gr” and reappeared with even fewer entries in 2020 on “kozan.gr”, while there are no appearances on “eordaia.org”. For the word “Geotechnical”, there are no entries until 2018 (Figure 13b). Specifically, according to “kozan.gr”, the first time that the word appears is in 2018, and then it reappears in 2020. Since 2020, the word seems to appear on all three sites, with entries peaking in 2022 on “eordaia.org”.

3.2.5. Landscape Zone (Category E)

Under Category E, the term “Solar Park” also appears in local media results (Figure 13c). The word first appeared in 2016. Regarding the three local media sources, only “e-ptolemeos.gr” shows a steady increase from 2016 to 2023, with a peak in 2022 (Figure 13c). This could be related to the same announcement, as illustrated at the country level in terms of the new large-scale photovoltaic park. According to “kozan.gr”, the word depicts a continuous rise in the frequency of entities with a high value (Figure 13c). In contrast, eordaia.org showed no results until 2020, except for 2021 and beyond, where it illustrates an increase similar to the other local sources (Figure 13c). The term “Territorial plans” had no occurrences from 2016 to 2019 (Figure 13c). It is worth noting that in 2020 and 2021, “Territorial plans” experienced a peak in entries on “kozan.gr” and “e-ptolemeos.gr”, respectively. In contrast, “eordaia.org” showed entries only in 2021 with a low value (Figure 13d).

3.2.6. Perception EU (Category F)

The maximum occurrences of “Climate Change” in local-regional media appeared in 2019, following the findings at a national scale (Figure 14a). The terms “Just Transition”, “Green Fund”, “Green Transition”, “Energy Transition”, and “Just Development Transition” have their maximum occurrences in 2020, 2021, and 2022 (Figure 14b–f). This is expected, as in 2021, the National Energy & Climate Plan (NECP) was developed for the transition regions.

4. Discussion

4.1. Comparative Analysis: National vs. Regional Media

The analysis of media coverage surrounding the energy transition reveals both significant convergences and divergences between national and regional outlets. A shared focus is evident in the temporal patterns for certain keywords. For instance, both national and regional media demonstrated peak occurrences for “Western Macedonia” in 2021 and “Climate change” in 2019 (Figure 3b, Figure 8, Figure 9b and Figure 15a,b). This indicates a synchronized attention to the primary geographical area of the transition and the overarching climate discourse driving it. Similarly, the concurrently increasing trend for “solar park” in both spheres suggests a commonly held positive framing of renewable energy projects as a key component of the transition (Figure 7d,e and Figure 13c).
Despite these similarities, critical differences emerge that highlight the distinct roles and perspectives of national versus regional media. Regional outlets often demonstrated an earlier or more intense focus on terms directly related to the local impact of the transition. Keywords such as “Transition” and “post lignite” peaked sooner or with greater frequency in local media, reflecting the immediate and tangible consequences for communities in Western Macedonia (Figure 4a and Figure 6e). The prominence of “De-lignification” in local media, particularly its peak in 2020, coinciding with the announcement of the Master Plan, underscores the direct relevance of the term to the livelihoods and future of the local populace, whereas for national media it remained part of a broader policy discussion (Figure 4b,c, Figure 8 and Figure 11c).
Nuances in sentiment and focus further distinguish the two media landscapes. While national media coverage exhibited a wider spectrum of sentiment shifts, from initial optimism to periods of questioning and back, regional media discourse was more consistently anchored in the direct implications for local employment and infrastructure. Furthermore, both media spheres tended to eschew granular technical details, with terms like “drainage” and “geotechnical” appearing infrequently (Figure 7a,b and Figure 13a,b). This suggests a collective focus on the broader policy, economic, and social dimensions of the transition rather than its specific engineering challenges. Finally, the increasing integration of European Union policy terms across both national and regional media reflects the powerful top-down influence of EU directives on the energy strategy of Greece. These findings collectively suggest that while national media frames the energy transition within a wider political and economic context, regional media provides a more immediate, localized, and community-centric lens on its unfolding impacts.
The fundamental causes for this divergence between national and regional media narratives are rooted in their distinct audiences, economic models, and news-gathering practices. Serving a geographically and socially varied readership, national media sources present the energy transition through a macro-level relevant perspective, emphasizing international commitments such as the European Green Deal, national policy, and economic strategy [12]. Since their survival is not reliant on the issues of a particular area, a local story needs to be elevated to a national issue to be considered noteworthy. Furthermore, the official government-derived, frequently upbeat, top-down framing of the energy transition can be aligned with the narrative of the Greek national media, which struggles with concentrated ownership and political control [47,48]. On the other hand, the local community itself is the main audience for regional media. How successfully they represent and respond to the immediate, concrete issues of their readers (e.g., job security, local infrastructure, cultural identity) is inextricably linked to their economic viability and relevance. Instead of depending only on national press releases, their journalists are integrated into the community and obtain news from residents and stakeholders. A more detailed, bottom-up, and frequently more critical viewpoint is naturally fostered by this close contact with the practical effects of the energy transition.

4.2. Framing the Transition: Political Narratives and Community Perception

The political decisions underpinning the rapid lignite phase-out of Greece have fostered a polarized public discourse, fraught with uncertainty about the future. The transition is widely framed as a necessary step towards environmental remediation, improved living conditions, and alignment with European climate objectives [1,2,3,4,5,6,33,49]. On the other hand, a competing narrative voices significant concern, arguing that the abrupt shift will dismantle decades of accumulated technical expertise, trigger severe job losses, and potentially compromise national energy autonomy [2,5,33].
The period from 2019 to 2022 marked a turning point, with a sharp increase in media volume and thematic coherence coinciding with the 2019 lignite exit announcement by the government and the subsequent development of the Just Transition Plan (Figure 3a and Figure 8). This demonstrates how media salience is intrinsically linked to the political agenda. In national discourse, the framing of the transition evolved. Initial coverage often centered on industrial activity, but by 2019, a more constructive and optimistic tone became prevalent, emphasizing new developments and aligning with government efforts to build public trust. Technical jargon such as “de-lignification” was successfully normalized within the public sphere, thereby framing the transition as an act of progress rather than one of decline. This positive framing is starkly evident in the sentiment analysis, which shows that key policy terms like “De-lignification” and “Transition” carried a 100% positive sentiment in the analyzed media content (Figure 4c and Figure 16). However, this national narrative of managed progress appears to have significant gaps. The discourse around terms directly tied to the legacy industry is marked by ambivalence. This is quantitatively reflected in the sentiment surrounding the word “Mine,” which was markedly divided between positive (31%), negative (27%), and neutral (42%) framings (Figure 16). This split perfectly illustrates the conflict between narratives of progress and the persistent, deep-seated emotional undercurrents of economic dependency and social disruption. Similarly, while “Western Macedonia” was central to the discussion and framed in a largely positive (59%) and neutral (41%) light, the term “Climate Change” was presented in a consistently neutral manner (100%). This suggests it was treated as a factual backdrop for policy decisions rather than an emotionally charged topic in its own right, despite co-occurring with words of concern (Figure 10a).
The scarcity of media content addressing the long-term environmental legacy of mining, such as “soil remediation” or “re-use”, suggests a potential shortfall in investigative reporting. This limited representation highlights that while broader narratives of transition and development are gaining public attention, more specialized aspects of environmental management remain peripheral in public discourse. Furthermore, the lack of emphasis on these terms may reflect a gap between policy frameworks, which often prioritize such technical measures, and the communication strategies adopted at the regional level. The profound connection between industry and identity is also a central theme, with the phase-out perceived by many as a threat to the cultural and historical heritage of communities like Ptolemaida (Western Macedonia) and Megalopolis (Peloponnese Peninsula), which have been inextricably linked to the Public Power Corporation for over half a century. The late appearance of practical terms like “re-use” in 2021 suggests that discussions about the future of former industrial sites entered the public discourse relatively late in the process, long after the foundational policy decisions were made (Figure 15b). This highlights a critical need for more inclusive and balanced reporting to ensure the transition is perceived as just, not only in policy but in its communication to those most affected. Bringing greater visibility to these concepts could help foster a more informed debate, enhance public awareness of the practical dimensions of transition, and potentially support the implementation of more sustainable, locally grounded solutions.
However, this national narrative of managed progress appears to have significant gaps. The discourse around “lignite” and “mine” is marked by ambivalence, shifting from a cornerstone of energy security to an obsolete and unsustainable liability. This shift reflects changing EU policies and growing climate awareness, but it only partially captures the deep-seated emotional undercurrents of economic dependency and social disruption. Despite positive references to development plans, phrases expressing concerns, such as “Lignite is dead”, and about future energy dependence on natural gas, highlight the fragility of public trust. Furthermore, the scarcity of media content addressing the long-term environmental legacy of mining, such as “soil remediation” or “re-use”, points to a potential shortfall in investigative reporting (Figure 4a).
The profound connection between industry and identity is also a central theme, with the phase-out perceived by many as a threat to the cultural and historical heritage of communities like Ptolemaida and Megalopolis, which have been inextricably linked to the Public Power Corporation for over half a century [5,6]. The late appearance of practical terms like “re-use” in 2021 suggests that concrete discussions about the future of former industrial sites entered the public discourse relatively late in the process, long after the foundational policy decisions were made (Figure 4a). This highlights a critical need for more inclusive and balanced reporting to ensure the transition is perceived as just, not only in policy but also in its communication to those most affected.
Based on the analysis of public and political debates surrounding the energy transition, the discourse in Greece is uniquely shaped by the rapid pace of its lignite phase-out and the profound socio-economic dependencies of the affected regions. Shifting this discourse is crucial for the successful implementation of transition policies, and in Greece, the debate is heavily influenced by the immediate consequences for local communities. The de-lignification process is identified as a critical issue for a significant number of citizens in the key regions of Western Macedonia and Megalopolis, as their economic and social stability is deeply intertwined with the lignite industry [6,33,50].
Feelings and emotions play an essential role in the assessment of this transition by public opinion, often outweighing purely science-based reasoning [51]. For Greece, the analysis confirms that employment prospects in the mining sector are a decisive factor in shaping attitudes. This is coupled with widespread concerns regarding national energy security, which heavily influence public opinion. Beyond economic and security considerations, the transition is perceived by some inhabitants as a threat to their cultural and historical heritage.
The role of media in this context is pivotal. The findings indicate that Greek media outlets tend to support European concepts with primarily positive, appealing, or factual statements. This top-down narrative, which aligns with EU-level policy, contrasts with the more apprehensive sentiment on the ground. This highlights the importance of communication strategies that bridge the gap between national policy and local experience. As people identify strongly with their local-regional area, local political actors are often perceived as being much more receptive to the wishes and concerns of the citizens [38,39,40,52]. This local responsiveness offers a significant opportunity to improve the social dialogue. Direct communication at the local level can satisfy the human need for orientation and tangible points of contact, which are harder to find in a national or global discourse [38,39,40,53]. Given the ongoing digital shift, media communication must adapt to remain accessible, suggesting that trusted local media formats could play a key role in fostering a more inclusive dialogue [38,39,54].
Concluding, the Greek approach to the coal transition can be contextualized by comparing it with the experiences from other EU countries that also share a long coal exploitation history, such as Germany and Poland. In Germany, the discourse appears more mature, having shifted from initial financial worries towards a focus on new usage options and the positive potentials of former mining landscapes, although fears about the labor market persist [37,46]. This may represent a future trajectory for Greece as its transition unfolds. In contrast, the transition in Poland is characterized by a more negative media tonality, driven by concerns about the socio-economic consequences of a rapid phase-out and a contentious debate over energy sovereignty [36,46]. This highlights the difficulty of reconciling different viewpoints in a long-term transition process. Greece appears to chart a middle course, with a nationally supported, EU-aligned positive narrative, but one that must still earnestly address the deep-seated economic and cultural anxieties at the local level. The analysis underscores that the transition is an ongoing process, and its public perception will continue to evolve. Therefore, further public opinion research is crucial to provide supportive scientific guidance for a socially acceptable transition.

5. Conclusions

This study offers a detailed examination of media discourse surrounding the energy transition in Greece, revealing how national and regional narratives shape public understanding of the lignite phase-out. The analysis highlights critical dynamics between policymaking, media representation, and community perception. The major conclusions drawn from this research are:
  • National and regional media outlets frame the energy transition from distinct perspectives: national media emphasize policy, investment, and EU alignment, whereas regional outlets provide more immediate, community-centric viewpoints focused on local livelihoods and direct socio-economic impacts.
  • A temporal divergence is evident, with regional media often addressing transition-related issues such as “post-lignite” earlier and with greater frequency than national outlets, reflecting the urgency felt in lignite-dependent areas.
  • Narrative tensions emerge between the top-down, optimistic framing of the transition in national coverage and the more apprehensive regional discourse that highlights concerns over employment security and cultural heritage.
  • Since 2018, the evolution of Greek energy policy, punctuated by milestones such as the Just Transition Development Plan, has acted as a major driver of media attention and shifts in the public debate.
  • While renewable energy projects, particularly “solar parks”, are portrayed positively, there is limited coverage of long-term environmental challenges such as land re-use, soil remediation, and waste management, issues that remain underrepresented in public discourse.
Taken together, these findings demonstrate that Greek media is not a uniform entity but a complex ecosystem of competing frames that influence public acceptance of the transition. For policymakers, acknowledging these differences is essential to foster a more inclusive and equitable dialogue.
At the same time, certain limitations should be acknowledged. The study is based on a defined corpus of three regional news outlets, which possibly cannot fully capture the diversity of regional narratives. The reliance on keyword-based approaches to content and sentiment analysis, while systematic, may overlook context and discursive subtleties. Finally, the exclusion of alternative arenas of communication, such as social media, limits the scope of analysis to traditional media sources. Addressing these caveats in future research, through broader datasets and mixed methodologies, would provide a more comprehensive understanding of how transition narratives are constructed and contested across different scales. Coupling media analysis with socio-economic research, including questionnaires and in-depth interviews with affected communities, would allow for a deeper examination of how media framings intersect with lived experiences, perceptions of fairness, and the socio-economic realities of the transition.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, N.K. and G.S.M.; methodology, G.S.M. and T.Z.; software, G.S.M.; validation, N.K.; formal analysis, G.S.M.; investigation, G.S.M., C.L.S., T.Z., E.M., J.H., S.M. and B.R.; resources, G.S.M., C.L.S., T.Z., E.M., J.H., S.M. and B.R.; data curation, G.S.M.; writing—original draft preparation, G.S.M. and C.L.S.; writing—review and editing, N.K., G.S.M., C.L.S., T.Z. and E.M.; visualization, G.S.M. and C.L.S.; supervision, N.K.; funding acquisition, N.K. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was held under the Web INTEractive management tool for coal Regions in transition (WINTER) research project, which was funded by the European Commission under the Research Programme of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (R.F.C.S.; Grant Agreement number: 101057228-WINTER-RFCS-2021).

Data Availability Statement

The original data presented in the study are openly available in GitHub (version 3.6) at https://github.com/WINTER-project-eu/Social_Media_Analysis.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Konstantina Pyrgaki, Evangelia Zygouri, Anna Batsi, Pavlos Krassakis, Andreas Karavias, Laura Cebula, Lukas Kasperidus, Aleksandra Szwaja, Marta Błachowicz, and Beata Merenda for their contributions to the relevant work package of the WINTER project. Authors are also thankful to three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions, which helped improve the quality and clarity of the manuscript.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Figure 1. A satellite view of the Western Macedonia Lignite Centre. The two distinct mining areas, Amyntaion (northwest) and Ptolemaida (southeast), are highlighted in yellow curves (adapted from Zarogiannis et al. [20]).
Figure 1. A satellite view of the Western Macedonia Lignite Centre. The two distinct mining areas, Amyntaion (northwest) and Ptolemaida (southeast), are highlighted in yellow curves (adapted from Zarogiannis et al. [20]).
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Figure 2. The flowchart of the research methodology implemented to conduct the national and regional media analysis.
Figure 2. The flowchart of the research methodology implemented to conduct the national and regional media analysis.
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Figure 3. Representative graphs from the national media analysis for the “Solidarity/Identity” category: (a) Frequency of solidarity/identity-related terms across different years (J.D.T.P. = Just Development Transition Plan, S.P.P. = steam power plant); (b) Yearly trend in the usage frequency of the word “plant”; (c) Visual representation of how the term “plant” appeared in Greek media during 2019 (G.C.C. = Gas Combined Cycle); (d) Yearly trend in the usage frequency of the term “Western Macedonia”. (e) Visual representation of how the term “Western Macedonia” appeared in Greek media during 2021.
Figure 3. Representative graphs from the national media analysis for the “Solidarity/Identity” category: (a) Frequency of solidarity/identity-related terms across different years (J.D.T.P. = Just Development Transition Plan, S.P.P. = steam power plant); (b) Yearly trend in the usage frequency of the word “plant”; (c) Visual representation of how the term “plant” appeared in Greek media during 2019 (G.C.C. = Gas Combined Cycle); (d) Yearly trend in the usage frequency of the term “Western Macedonia”. (e) Visual representation of how the term “Western Macedonia” appeared in Greek media during 2021.
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Figure 4. Representative graphs from the national media analysis for the “Site Development” category: (a) Frequency of site development-related terms over the years; (b) Trend in the number of times the word “De-lignification” appeared between 2013 and 2022; (c) Visual analysis of the use of the term “De-lignification” in Greek media during 2021; (d) Yearly trend in the occurrence of the word “Waste” from 2013 to 2022.
Figure 4. Representative graphs from the national media analysis for the “Site Development” category: (a) Frequency of site development-related terms over the years; (b) Trend in the number of times the word “De-lignification” appeared between 2013 and 2022; (c) Visual analysis of the use of the term “De-lignification” in Greek media during 2021; (d) Yearly trend in the occurrence of the word “Waste” from 2013 to 2022.
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Figure 5. Frequency of terms related to the “Regional Development” category used over time from the national-level analysis.
Figure 5. Frequency of terms related to the “Regional Development” category used over time from the national-level analysis.
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Figure 6. Representative graphs from the national media analysis for the “Regional Development” category: (a) Frequency of the term “Lignite” over time; (b) Co-occurrence network showing words most frequently appearing alongside “Lignite”; (c) Frequency of the term “Mine” over time; (d) Co-occurrence network of words most commonly associated with “Mine”; (e) Frequency of the term “Transition” from 2013 to 2022; (f) Co-occurrence word map for “Transition” based on 2022 Greek media content.
Figure 6. Representative graphs from the national media analysis for the “Regional Development” category: (a) Frequency of the term “Lignite” over time; (b) Co-occurrence network showing words most frequently appearing alongside “Lignite”; (c) Frequency of the term “Mine” over time; (d) Co-occurrence network of words most commonly associated with “Mine”; (e) Frequency of the term “Transition” from 2013 to 2022; (f) Co-occurrence word map for “Transition” based on 2022 Greek media content.
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Figure 7. Representative graphs from the national media analysis for the “Technical Tasks” (a–c) and “Landscape Zone” (d–f) categories: (a) Frequency of technical task-related terms by year; (b) Annual frequency of the term “Drainage”; (c) Annual frequency of the term “Geotechnical”; (d) Frequency of landscape zone-related terms over time; (e) Yearly trend in the use of the term “Solar park” from 2013 to 2022; (f) Frequency of the term “Territorial plans” across the 2013–2022 period.
Figure 7. Representative graphs from the national media analysis for the “Technical Tasks” (a–c) and “Landscape Zone” (d–f) categories: (a) Frequency of technical task-related terms by year; (b) Annual frequency of the term “Drainage”; (c) Annual frequency of the term “Geotechnical”; (d) Frequency of landscape zone-related terms over time; (e) Yearly trend in the use of the term “Solar park” from 2013 to 2022; (f) Frequency of the term “Territorial plans” across the 2013–2022 period.
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Figure 8. Perception of EU transition-related terms over time, based on number of entries per year.
Figure 8. Perception of EU transition-related terms over time, based on number of entries per year.
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Figure 9. Representative graphs from the national media analysis for the “Perception EU” category: (a) Frequency of mentions of the term “National Climate Act” over time; (b) Number of occurrences of the phrase “Climate Change” across different years; (c) Yearly trend in the usage of the term “Climate Crisis”; (d) Frequency of the term “European Directive” by year; (e) Annual number of entries for the word “Transition”; (f) Number of entries per year for the phrase “Energy Transition”; (g) Mentions of “Just Transition” over time; (h) Number of references to “Green Transition” by year.
Figure 9. Representative graphs from the national media analysis for the “Perception EU” category: (a) Frequency of mentions of the term “National Climate Act” over time; (b) Number of occurrences of the phrase “Climate Change” across different years; (c) Yearly trend in the usage of the term “Climate Crisis”; (d) Frequency of the term “European Directive” by year; (e) Annual number of entries for the word “Transition”; (f) Number of entries per year for the phrase “Energy Transition”; (g) Mentions of “Just Transition” over time; (h) Number of references to “Green Transition” by year.
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Energies 18 04595 g010
Figure 10. Word graphs from the national media analysis for the “Perception EU” category: (a) Word graph of the term “Climate Change” as used in 2022; (b) Word graph of the term “Transition” as it appeared in 2016; (c) Word graph of the term “Transition” as it appeared in 2022; (d) Word graph showing co-occurring terms with “De-carbonization”.
Figure 10. Word graphs from the national media analysis for the “Perception EU” category: (a) Word graph of the term “Climate Change” as used in 2022; (b) Word graph of the term “Transition” as it appeared in 2016; (c) Word graph of the term “Transition” as it appeared in 2022; (d) Word graph showing co-occurring terms with “De-carbonization”.
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Energies 18 04595 g011
Figure 11. Representative graphs from the regional media analysis for the “Solidarity/Identity” (a,b) and “Site Development” (c,d) categories: (a) Number of entries of the word “Western Macedonia” over time in local media; (b) Number of occurrences of the word “plant” over time in local media; (c) Yearly trend in the usage of the word “de-lignification” over time in local media; (d) Frequency of the word “waste” over time in local media.
Figure 11. Representative graphs from the regional media analysis for the “Solidarity/Identity” (a,b) and “Site Development” (c,d) categories: (a) Number of entries of the word “Western Macedonia” over time in local media; (b) Number of occurrences of the word “plant” over time in local media; (c) Yearly trend in the usage of the word “de-lignification” over time in local media; (d) Frequency of the word “waste” over time in local media.
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Energies 18 04595 g012
Figure 12. Representative graphs from the regional media analysis for the “Site Development” (a) and “Regional Development” (b–d) categories: (a) The use of the term “post-lignite” in local media shows how discourse around the region’s energy shift has evolved over time; (b) References to “Transition” in local outlets trace the growing prominence of systemic change in the local energy narrative; (c) Mentions of “Lignite” reflect the sustained attention on the region’s traditional energy source throughout the years; (d) The frequency of the word “Mine” highlights the ongoing focus on extractive activities in the local press.
Figure 12. Representative graphs from the regional media analysis for the “Site Development” (a) and “Regional Development” (b–d) categories: (a) The use of the term “post-lignite” in local media shows how discourse around the region’s energy shift has evolved over time; (b) References to “Transition” in local outlets trace the growing prominence of systemic change in the local energy narrative; (c) Mentions of “Lignite” reflect the sustained attention on the region’s traditional energy source throughout the years; (d) The frequency of the word “Mine” highlights the ongoing focus on extractive activities in the local press.
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Energies 18 04595 g013
Figure 13. Representative graphs from the regional media analysis for the “Technical Tasks” (a,b) and the “Landscape Zone” (c,d) categories: (a) The presence of the term “drainage” in local media between 2016 and 2023 points to infrastructure and water management concerns in regional reporting; (b) Mentions of “geotechnical” over the same period reflect attention to ground stability and construction-related issues in local narratives; (c) The appearance of “Solar Park” in local sources from 2016 to 2023 highlights the growing relevance of renewable energy projects; (d) References to “Territorial plans” reveal how spatial planning and development strategies have gained visibility in the public discourse.
Figure 13. Representative graphs from the regional media analysis for the “Technical Tasks” (a,b) and the “Landscape Zone” (c,d) categories: (a) The presence of the term “drainage” in local media between 2016 and 2023 points to infrastructure and water management concerns in regional reporting; (b) Mentions of “geotechnical” over the same period reflect attention to ground stability and construction-related issues in local narratives; (c) The appearance of “Solar Park” in local sources from 2016 to 2023 highlights the growing relevance of renewable energy projects; (d) References to “Territorial plans” reveal how spatial planning and development strategies have gained visibility in the public discourse.
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Figure 14. Representative graphs from the regional media analysis for the “Technical Tasks” (a,b) and the “Landscape Zone” (c,d) categories: (a) The term “Climate Change” appears consistently in local media from 2016 to 2023, reflecting increasing awareness of environmental concerns; (b) References to “Just Transition” indicate a growing public engagement with fair socio-economic adaptation to post-lignite realities; (c) The phrase “Green Fund” emerges in the context of funding mechanisms and support for sustainable regional initiatives; (d) Mentions of “Green Transition” highlight the broader policy discourse around ecological transformation at the local level; (e) The occurrence of “Energy Transition” underscores the shift of the region toward renewable energy and de-carbonization; (f) Entries including “Just Development Transition” reflect nuanced discussions about balancing equity and growth during the shift away from lignite.
Figure 14. Representative graphs from the regional media analysis for the “Technical Tasks” (a,b) and the “Landscape Zone” (c,d) categories: (a) The term “Climate Change” appears consistently in local media from 2016 to 2023, reflecting increasing awareness of environmental concerns; (b) References to “Just Transition” indicate a growing public engagement with fair socio-economic adaptation to post-lignite realities; (c) The phrase “Green Fund” emerges in the context of funding mechanisms and support for sustainable regional initiatives; (d) Mentions of “Green Transition” highlight the broader policy discourse around ecological transformation at the local level; (e) The occurrence of “Energy Transition” underscores the shift of the region toward renewable energy and de-carbonization; (f) Entries including “Just Development Transition” reflect nuanced discussions about balancing equity and growth during the shift away from lignite.
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Energies 18 04595 g015
Figure 15. Number of occurrences of content-related words in logarithmic order in the Greek media corpus: (a) 2019 and (b) 2021. Colored boxes indicate the thematic category: orange—(A) Solidarity/Identity, red—(B) Site development, blue—(C) Regional development, grey—(F) Perception of the EU (modified after [46]).
Figure 15. Number of occurrences of content-related words in logarithmic order in the Greek media corpus: (a) 2019 and (b) 2021. Colored boxes indicate the thematic category: orange—(A) Solidarity/Identity, red—(B) Site development, blue—(C) Regional development, grey—(F) Perception of the EU (modified after [46]).
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Figure 16. Sentiment analysis for the keywords “Transition”, “Climate Change”, “Western Macedonia”, “Mine”, and “De-lignification” at the regional media occurrences through the years 2019–2022.
Figure 16. Sentiment analysis for the keywords “Transition”, “Climate Change”, “Western Macedonia”, “Mine”, and “De-lignification” at the regional media occurrences through the years 2019–2022.
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Table 1. Number of Greek sentences available in the data corpora of the Leipzig Corpora collection. Corpus size is given in million sentences.
Table 1. Number of Greek sentences available in the data corpora of the Leipzig Corpora collection. Corpus size is given in million sentences.
Corpora YearGreek Sentences (in Millions)
20130.6
20160.8
20170.9
20180.6
20191.2
20202.2
20211.9
20221.9
Total size10.1
Table 2. Search categories and attributes of the Greek keywords, translated to English, for analysis with the Leipzig Corpora Collection.
Table 2. Search categories and attributes of the Greek keywords, translated to English, for analysis with the Leipzig Corpora Collection.
CategoryDescription
ASolidarity/
Identity		Terms reinforcing regional or industrial identity and solidarity.
Keywords: St. Barbara, socially acceptable, Mavropigi, Akrini, steam power plant, Megalopoli, Ptolemaida, Western Macedonia, plant, S.P.P. *, J.D.T.P. *
BSite
Development		Language describing redevelopment of former coal infrastructure.
Keywords: Re-use, Waste, Regeneration, Post-lignite, De-lignification, Post-lignite era, Soil remediation, Deposits/dumps.
CRegional DevelopmentTerms referring to regional socio-economic progress post-transition.
Keywords: Transition, Lignite, Carbon, Mine, Coal.
DTechnical
Tasks		Technical terminology around energy transition and decommissioning.
Keywords: Perpetual obligations, drainage, geotechnical.
ELandscape
Zone		Lexicon describing geographical and environmental features.
Keywords: Productive landscape, solar park, regeneration, territorial plans
FPerception
EU		Terms reflecting EU-level framing or policy perception.
Keywords: Just Transition, Green Transition, Energy Transition, De-carbonization, Green Deal, Green Fund, European Green Deal, Climate Change, Climate Crisis, SDG, Just Development Transition, Just Development, Transition Plan, National Climate Act, European Directive, Energy Crisis
* J.D.T.P. = Just Development Transition Plan, SDGs = Sustainable Development Goals, S.P.P. = steam power plant.
Table 3. Web news portals (URLs) and their locality (city) across Western Macedonia, Greece. The scraped number of headlines and the respective dates of analysis for each selected portal.
Table 3. Web news portals (URLs) and their locality (city) across Western Macedonia, Greece. The scraped number of headlines and the respective dates of analysis for each selected portal.
Ν.URLsLocalityNumber of HeadlinesStart DateEnd Date
1* https://kozan.gr/Kozani84,1103 December 201615 August 2023
2* https://e-ptolemeos.gr/Ptolemaida99,37419 September 201615 August 2023
3* http://eordaia.org/Eordaia42,60330 November 20161 September 2023
4https://eordaialive.com/Eordaia---
5https://www.ptolemaidanews.gr/Ptolemaida---
6https://kozani.tv/Kozani---
7https://neaflorina.gr/Florina---
8https://www.florinapress.gr/Florina---
9https://amyntaionews.gr/Florina---
10https://greveniotis.gr/Grevena---
11https://grevenapress.gr/Grevena---
12https://grevenamedia.gr/Grevena---
13https://kastoria.news/Kastoria---
14https://www.svouranews.gr/Kastoria---
15https://fouit.gr/Kastoria---
16https://sentra.com.gr/Kastoria---
17https://kastoria365.gr/Kastoria---
* The regional news sources selected for scraping are annotated. Selection criteria included geographical proximity to power plants, data availability, and posting of articles related to energy transition before 2020.
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Koukouzas, N.; Maraslidis, G.S.; Stergiou, C.L.; Zarogiannis, T.; Manoukian, E.; Haske, J.; Möllerherm, S.; Rogosz, B. Energy Transition in Greece: A Regional and National Media Analysis. Energies 2025, 18, 4595. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18174595

AMA Style

Koukouzas N, Maraslidis GS, Stergiou CL, Zarogiannis T, Manoukian E, Haske J, Möllerherm S, Rogosz B. Energy Transition in Greece: A Regional and National Media Analysis. Energies. 2025; 18(17):4595. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18174595

Chicago/Turabian Style

Koukouzas, Nikolaos, George S. Maraslidis, Christos L. Stergiou, Theodoros Zarogiannis, Eleonora Manoukian, Julia Haske, Stefan Möllerherm, and Barbara Rogosz. 2025. "Energy Transition in Greece: A Regional and National Media Analysis" Energies 18, no. 17: 4595. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18174595

APA Style

Koukouzas, N., Maraslidis, G. S., Stergiou, C. L., Zarogiannis, T., Manoukian, E., Haske, J., Möllerherm, S., & Rogosz, B. (2025). Energy Transition in Greece: A Regional and National Media Analysis. Energies, 18(17), 4595. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18174595

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