A ship laying power cables. (Image: Getty)
and Cyprus have reached a landmark deal to press ahead with a subsea electric cable linking continental to the East Mediterranean.
The energy ministries announced a memorandum of understanding to complete the construction of the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) cable on Saturday, September 21.
The will link transmission networks of Europe to in a project costing 1.6 billion pounds, and later stretch to .
The cable will measure roughly 771 miles in length and will help Cyprus to integrate into European power grids.
At the same time, it will reduce the island’s dependency on imports of heavy fuel oil for its power stations, which are leading to high energy costs for consumers.
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The power cable will connect Cyprus and Greece. (Image: Marios Karatzias X social media)
It will deliver up to 2,000 MW of energy to and will be the largest such project of its kind in history, supplying over three million homes with electricity.
“This is a project of strategic importance for Cyprus, Greece and the EU since it will link Cyprus to the electricity network of Europe, facilitating its energy transition and the aim of Greece to be a conduit of clean energy,” the ministries said.
The project presents significant technical challenges, but engineers are confident they can overcome them.
The cable will be installed at a depth of 3,000 metres under the sea, making it one of the deepest ever laid.
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The complexity of the installation and the extreme underwater conditions require cutting-edge technical expertise and considerable investment to ensure the long-term reliability of the infrastructure.
Concerns about potential costs associated with possible construction delays and future maintenance of the infrastructure had caused officials in Nicosia to have serious doubts about the project’s viability.
However, these have now been addressed, with the new agreement clarifying the responsibilities and financial commitments of the parties involved.
Greece sees the GSI project as an opportunity to consolidate its role as an energy distribution hub in the Mediterranean basin.
By connecting to via Cyprus in the future, the project will also enable surplus electricity from renewable sources, particularly solar power, to be integrated into the European grid.
Greece’s geographical position as a crossroads between Europe and the Middle East is a strategic asset for the development of energy infrastructures of this kind.
Financing for the Great Sea Interconnector project is largely based on European subsidies, with the participation of the European Investment Bank (EIB), which sees the project as a means of stabilising and diversifying energy supplies.
The , through its cross-border energy infrastructure financing facility, is also playing a key role in providing financial support for the initiative.