Filenews 13 September 2024 - by Andreas Pibishis
TAQA's participation in the Great Sea Interconnector was at the heart of talks held by President Christodoulides in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.
President Christodoulides, in statements on Thursday, had briefly referred to the whole issue. After noting that his trip to the UAE was not accidental, he went on to say that in Abu Dhabi both issues of cooperation in the energy sector and this project were discussed.
Government circles contacted by Filenews noted the importance of President Christodoulides' talks in the UAE, while underlining the involvement of Abu Dhabi's national energy company, TAQA.
Nicosia notes the UAE's interest in this project, underlining at the same time that the trip to the Gulf state came at a pivotal point in the GSI discussions. There is also a positive sign regarding the diplomatic aspect of the whole issue, taking into account that such meetings with the leadership of the UAE are not an easy task.
The Emirati TAQA is no stranger to Nicosia and to those involved in the electricity interconnection of Cyprus, Greece and Israel. Last December, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Ministry of Energy, ADMIE and TAQA for cooperation on the electricity interconnection of Cyprus, Greece and Israel.
As stated in a relevant announcement issued at the time by the Ministry of Energy: "The purpose of the memorandum, signed in Dubai on the sidelines of the 28th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP28), is for the Ministry of Energy and TAQA to engage in discussions with IPTO, in order to study the possibility of participating in the share capital of the new special purpose vehicle that will undertake as Implementing Body of the project and will be named "Great Sea Interconnector". It provides for the establishment of an advisory committee that will meet twice a month and which will include two members from each party and one additional person from IPTO, who will act as coordinator".
