Cyprus to decide on Interconnector participation

A decision on whether the Republic will participate as shareholder in the Great Sea Interconnector project is expected to be taken on Thursday, state officials have announced.

Finance Minister Makis Keravnos and Energy Minister George Papanastasiou after a meeting on Tuesday also reached the decision to submit a relevant proposal to the council of ministers this Friday, it emerged.

During the two ministers’ meeting, “no decision was taken”, according to information provided to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA).

However, the meeting saw the exchange of some additional documentation, as requested by the ministry of finance.

On January 23, an international company presented findings of the study it carried out, giving a thumbs up to the project, thus strengthening the possibility that the Republic of Cyprus will invest as a joint majority shareholder.

The company offered the evaluation that the Great Sea Interconnector “would have great value for the electricity market of Cyprus” and “very high geopolitical value”, due to Cyprus becoming the middle node linking the national electricity grids of Israel to Greece—and by extension to mainland Europe.

The implementing body of the project is Greece’s Independent Electricity Transmission Operator (Admie).

Interest in investing in the project was also expressed by the CEO of the United Arab Emirates investment fund (TAQA) according to CNA.

The UAE’s interest was relayed during a meeting held last Friday between CEO Jasim Husain Thabet and President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace.

Implementation of the project is estimated at a total cost of around €1.9 billion. Approximately €1.2bn will be sought from international investors, while an amount of €657 million has been pledged by the EU under the connecting Europe facility (CEF). Cyprus could invest up to €100m from its recovery and resilience (RRF) funds.

The Great Sea Interconnector (formerly EuroAsia Interconnector) entails a deep-sea cable with capacity of 2,000 MW. In the first phase, the electrical interconnection between Cyprus and Crete would be built and connection with Israel would happen in a second phase.