The first hydrogen-powered bus will be put to the test on the street of Athens in less than a month

At the conference organized by the GROWTHFUND within the framework of the 86th TIF, with the title “Creating new opportunities for sustainable and regional development in the country: The strategy of the GROWTHFUND and its companies in Real Estate, Infrastructure and Logistics”, the special thematic section “Sustainable mobility and digital projects as infrastructure upgrade factors”.

The speakers of the panel were Mr. Vassilis Karakulakis, President of FDL Group, Mr. Athanasios Kottaras, CEO of STASY, Mr. Stefanos Agiasoglou, CEO of O.SY, Mr. George Konstantopoulos, CEO of Hellenic Post. Mr. Nikos Karagiannis, Journalist from Ypodomes.com, was the coordinator.

Vassilis Karakulakis: Supply chain management without digitization does not exist

The start of the discussion was made by Mr. Vassilis Karakoulakis, President of FDL Group, who stated that: “Management of the supply chain without digitization does not exist. The acceleration of digitization is an opportunity for Greece. The period of Covid and the pandemic pushed the developments towards this transition”.

“Two moves, investments based on robots, were made by ELTA and the FDL group. We also got the agency of a robot production company”.

He concluded his presentation by saying, “The systems we have brought in provide a number of solutions. They can bring us to places that were unthinkable a few years ago.”

Athanasios Kottaras: We are close to using electricity generated from trains braking

Then Mr. Athanasios Kottaras, CEO of STASY, took the floor. Mr. Kottaras who mentioned the renovation project of 14 Metro trains. In particular, he said, “For the first time in Greece, old subway trains of Line 1 are being renovated, which started operating in 1985. The tender is close to approval and I believe that in the next few days we will have the contract signed. The company that will undertake it is the Spanish CAF. The upgrade will take place in Greece and the value of the project is 70 million.” I believe that we can also upgrade other infrastructures of Metro Line 1″.

Mr. Kottaras also addressed the issue of reducing STASY‘s environmental footprint, saying, “STASY’s means are the most environmentally friendly. We are very close to a solution that will be implemented for the first time in Greece and will use energy from the braking of trains. Energy will be fed into the grid from braking. We are in discussions with HEDNO to find the system that will be installed in the stations. Studies show that this can give us an energy saving of around 10%. The budget of the specific project reaches 40 million Euros”.

Stefanos Agiasoglou: In one month the first hydrogen bus will be on the streets of Athens

The third speaker was Mr. Stefanos Agiasoglou, CEO of O.SY, who said, “Public transportation in Athens was running slowly. We have decided to make moves to improve the fleet to improve transport services. The first move was the downsizing of the existing fleet and services. Second move, to prepare the company so that the collection of vehicles is not just a simple collection but offers improved services to the public.

“From the beginning of 2023 we will see the first new electric and CNG buses on the streets of Athens. O.SY prepared a series of digital transformation projects to face what is coming”.

In addition, Mr. Ayasoglou stated, “We have entered the process of creating logistics for the spare parts that are coming. Still through the use of technology we will see what damage a vehicle has on the road, go where it needs to be in order to stay as little as possible in the workshop. While we also promote telematics. All these are 50 million Euro projects and they have all found funding”.

The CEO of OSY emphasized that “In one month, the first hydrogen-powered bus will be tested on the streets of Athens. Hydrogen for heavy transport is the fuel of the future. OSY, in particular, is studying hydrogen, and is at the cutting edge to be ready for the investments to come.”

Giorgos Konstantopoulos: The robotic system has increased the speed of sorting objects sixfold

The thematic section concluded with George Konstantopoulos, CEO of the Hellenic Post Office.

Mr. Konstantopoulos emphasized that, “The design of digital transformation projects plays a central role in ELTA. A few days ago, the robotic sorting project was put into operation here in Thessaloniki as well”.

He then analyzed the benefits of the new system in terms of innovation and digital transformation, human resources and what impact it had on it, and finally what benefits citizens and businesses get.

“We brought in the most advanced technology to do the screening. This is central to the service we offer to citizens. We are the first postal organization in Europe to use robots in sorting. This has increased speed sixfold and reduced human error.”

“From 21 sorting centers we are attempting a reduction to 10 to 12. Most of the sorting will be done mainly from the two large centers in Kryoneri Attica and Oreokastro. This has an annual benefit of approximately 3 million euros”.

“The environmental footprint is minimal, as it is not an energy-intensive system. The new system has brought tremendous improvement to the employees as they are faster. They also work in a clean and quiet environment. The robotic system is not intended to reduce our employees but to upgrade them”.

Concluding his presentation he said, “In order to make the final selection we have added other innovative services. We have introduced digital mail and smart drop-off boxes. Another benefit from digitization is enjoyed by both businesses and citizens with improved product delivery services.