ENERGY: Work to start on EuroAsia converter station after Cyprus land lease

A land concession agreement has been signed at the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry in Nicosia where the first HVDC converter station for the EuroAsia Interconnector electricity cable will be built, connecting the networks of Cyprus, Israel, Crete and Attica in Greece, with a transfer capacity of 2000MW.

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The agreement was signed by Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis and the Director General of the Ministry, Dr. Stelios Himonas, and on behalf of the Project Promoter of the European Project of Common Interest (PCI 3.10) the CEO Nassos Ktoridis and the Project Director, George Killas.

The signing of the contract paves the way for the construction works to begin for the EuroAsia Interconnector, which is a leading project of common interest of the European Union with significant socio-economic benefits worth €10 bln.

The duration of the agreement is 33 years, with an option to renew the lease for a further 66 years.

The signing of the agreement follows the administrative decision no.133 published in the Gazette of the Republic of Cyprus. The expropriated property near Kofinou has a total area of ​​74,088 square meters.

The necessary technical and other studies have been completed and the environmental permit has been secured from the Cypriot authorities, and the planning permission is already underway for the construction of the converter station and other works.

The construction cost of the first phase of the project (Cyprus-Crete-Attica) with a capacity to transfer 1000MW amounts to €3.5 bln.

The interconnection between Crete and Attica is expected to be operational in June 2022 and by December 2023 will interconnect Cyprus to the system by completing the Cyprus-Crete-Attica interconnection.

The EuroAsia Interconnector project is important to the states involved and the EU as it falls within its energy policy and contributes to the achievement of its goals by ending the energy isolation of Cyprus, the last EU member state without any electricity interconnection.