EU investment in Greece-Cyprus interconnection, also studied by Med-TSO

Recently, EU countries agreed on a Commission proposal to invest € 1.037 billion in 5 cross-border infrastructure projects under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for trans-European energy networks.

The largest amount of funding will go to the Euro-Asia interconnector project (€ 657 million) to support the first electricity interconnection between Cyprus and the European grid: Kadri Simson, Commissioner for Energy, underlined how this new Euro-Asia interconnector will bring an end to the energy isolation of Cyprus linking the island to the rest of Europe. In fact, this electricity project interconnects the transmission networks of Cyprus and Greece through 898km of undersea cables at a maximum sea depth of 3000 meters, setting the new world record for a project of this kind.

Med-TSO studied this interconnection project within its “Mediterranean Master Plan 2020”, issued in the frame of the Mediterranean Project 2, where the views of the Mediterranean Transmission System Operators member of the Association are gathered on the development of the grid up to 2030.

The first part of the project “n.12 GR-CY-IL” studied by Med-TSO foresees a new interconnection between the substations of Damasta in Crete (Greece), operated by IPTO, and the substations of Kofinou in Cyprus, operated by TSOC, to be realized with HVDC submarine cables with a capacity of 1000 MW, using VSC technology and allowing transmission of electricity in both directions.

The allocation of these CEF funds is in line with the European Green Deal’s objectives, aiming to facilitate the integration of the energy infrastructure in the EU for supporting the energy transition, facilitating the integration of renewable energy, and enhancing the security of supply.