Filenews 2 February 2024
A proposal at today's meeting of the Council of Ministers for the participation of the Republic of Cyprus in the Great Sea Interconnector is submitted jointly by the Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry George Papanastasiou and the Minister of Finance Makis Keravnos, as stated by Mr. Papanastasiou.
"The Republic of Cyprus is reaching today, after many years of the project, a point where the Ministers of Energy and Finance are able to put a proposal to the Council of Ministers for the participation of the Republic of Cyprus," he stressed.
The Great Sea Interconnector (formerly EuroAsia) concerns the interconnection, via submarine cables, of the national electricity transmission networks of Cyprus, Israel and Greece (via Crete), with a capacity of 2,000 MW and two directions.
In relation to the use of the electricity cable, the Minister of Energy said that from it, Cyprus will benefit by 66% and Greece by 34%.
"Based on the studies, Cyprus will have sufficient electricity, it will be able to increase the penetration of RES by 66% through the cable, it will be able to use its own natural gas for electricity production and electricity extraction through the cable and many other benefits," the Minister stressed.
He also said that with the electricity interconnection of the three countries, "Cyprus becomes a geostrategic hub now because it will be located between the electrical flows of Israel, Greece and Europe."
He said that the distance between Cyprus and Israel is 380 km and about 900 km from Cyprus to Crete, while the water depths between Cyprus and Crete are between 3-3.5 km and between Israel and Cyprus are 2-2.5 km.
Papanastasiou said that "the first payments have been made" by the Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMIE) of Greece, which is the project promoter, "so that the construction of the cable can begin and some kilometers of the cable have already been constructed."
He said that the company that manufactures the cable, Nexans, "is of French interest and manufactures the cable in Norway and is being perfected for water depths in Japan," adding that "there is technology and know-how for technical implementation of the project."
Asked whether the participation of the RoC in the project will be with the amount of EUR 100 million, he said that the Commission would not be able to do so. Papanastasiou said that this has not been decided and "it is something that is mentioned in the proposal to the Cabinet that "there are available amounts from the Recovery and Resilience Fund and the possibility for the Republic of Cyprus to get a loan of up to €100 million. euros which are at the disposal of the Republic".
"The Minister of Finance and the Minister of Energy will decide whether to exercise part or all of the amount," he added.
Referring to the course followed since March 2023 when his involvement with the project as Minister began, Mr. Papanastasiou said that there was a change of the implementing body that was important and which changed an implementing body that brought the project to a specific point.
"The new implementing body has both the know-how and the past" as it has done similar projects and "therefore has the ability to complete the project", he added.
He said that by examining its involvement along the way, the Republic of Cyprus evaluated the project "through a different lens and with a new implementing body and essentially gave a foreign firm to make some analyses based on the previous studies done by the previous implementing body to update our decisions."
"Through this course, the Republic of Cyprus reaches a point, following consultations between the two competent Ministries – the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Finance – to be at a point today to put the proposal before the Council of Ministers for the participation of the Republic of Cyprus in this project," he underlined.
Papanastasiou said that after the approval of the proposal by the Council of Ministers, "there will be several stages because it is an ambitious project and needs a lot of monitoring."
"We will get a preliminary 'yes' that we are entering the project, while things will evolve in consultation with the other bodies involved in the project such as the Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMIE) of Greece, investment funds that showed interest in entering the project," he said, adding that "through this consultation, there is a horizon to become a company that will own the project and which we demand as the Republic of Cyprus to be Cypriot".
He said that this (special purpose) company will issue share capital to be purchased by the interested parties and added that "the given stakeholders at the moment, given that the decision of the Council of Ministers is taken, are the Republic of Cyprus, the Hellenic Republic through IPTO, an investment fund from the United Arab Emirates who met the President of the Republic and officially stated that he was interested in entering the project and there are other funds that expressed interest and signed their participation with IPTO".
Israel-Cyprus-Greece Trilateral Meeting
Asked if a meeting of the three countries involved in the project is planned, Papanastasiou told CNA that he had a telephone conversation three days ago with Israeli Energy and Infrastructure Minister Israel Katz, following an initiative by the Israeli minister, which was "our first acquaintance due to the situation in Israel."
He said that the Israeli Energy Minister "indicated as a priority for Israel its participation in the cable and asked for a private meeting as soon as possible, either in Cyprus or Israel" and added that "during the discussion it emerged that it would be good" for Greek Energy Minister Theodoros Skylakakis to be at the meeting.
"We said to have a meeting in March either in Nicosia, Athens or Jerusalem so that we can jointly proceed with the participation of the three countries in the cable," he added.
