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Cyprus, Israel regulators to fast-track EuroAsia cable

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Government officials and market regulators from Cyprus and Israel are determined to see the subsea electricity link between their countries finished in time, if not earlier, that will end their energy isolation and reduce the risk of security of supply.

The project developer of the 1,000MW EuroAsia Interconnector said in an announcement that “an important coordination meeting took place in Nicosia between the Cypriot and the Israeli regulatory authorities and the chairmen of the regulatory authorities, regarding the EuroAsia Interconnector electricity interconnection that will link the national electricity grids of Israel and Cyprus with the European network.”

A delegation of the Israeli and Cypriot Ministries of Energy, the Israeli and Cypriot Energy Regulatory Authorities, and the Israeli and Cypriot transmission system operators (TSOs), participated in the meeting, moving forward with the implementation of the EuroAsia Interconnector Cyprus-Israel electricity interconnector.

After the meeting, Israel’s Ambassador to Cyprus, Oren Anolik, said, “Israeli and Cypriot officials from the Energy Ministries, the Electricity regulators and the TSOs met in Nicosia to discuss advancing EuroAsia Interconnector.

“Connecting the Cyprus and Israel electricity grids will end (our) energy isolation and strengthen our strategic partnership.”

The EuroAsia Interconnector Israel-Cyprus electricity interconnector is a leading European project of common interest (PCI 3.10.1) that ends the energy isolation of Israel and Cyprus, significantly reduces the CO2 emissions, and serves the “Green Deal” of the European Commission.

The construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2027 and its operation will begin in the first half of 2028.

Biggest funding

It has already secured €658 mln from the EU’s ‘Connecting Europe Facility’ and a further grant of €100 mln from the Recovery and Resilience Fund, the biggest funding in the history of Cyprus.

Earlier in October, President Nicos Anastasiades and EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson symbolically connected two electricity lines at a ceremony in Nicosia, inaugurating this way the construction phase of the EuroAsia Interconnector.

The infrastructure project will interconnect the electricity grids of Cyprus, Greece and Israel with the biggest subsea electricity cable in the world, which will exceed in length some 1,200 km with a capacity of 1,000MW and rising to 2,000MW.

“The realisation of the EuroAsia Interconnector project is a historic milestone for my whole country, but also for Europe, as it will connect the Continent with the Middle East,” Anastasiades said.

The EuroAsia Interconnector transforms Cyprus into an energy hub of strategic importance as the main cable sections connect the island nation both with Crete and with Israel. This project puts an end to the energy isolation of Cyprus

Commissioner Simson added that the EuroAsia Interconnector, “fulfils a wide range of targets. First, it ends the electricity isolation of Cyprus from the European market. An interconnected electricity system is essential for the security of supply for integrating renewable energy sources into the network.

“Secondly, the renewable electricity energy that will be produced from the surplus capacity of Cyprus will be used to satisfy the internal demand, as well as to flow into Continental Europe.”

2009 supply cut

“This trans-European network of energy was a clear consequence of the last that Europe witnessed in 2009 when Russia last time cut our supplies, and then we decided that we have to invest into better interconnection and now Cyprus is one of the countries that received the highest support of EU funds,” said Simson.

“This is a challenging project and I wish to express my strong support to the project promoters and governments because the deadlines are very ambitious and the technical aspects are challenging.”

Greece’s Environment and Energy Minister, Kostas Skrekas, said the EuroAsia Interconnector, “will increase the electricity resilience and the security of supply for all three countries through the construction of a bi-directional electricity highway for the exchange of green energy which will also contribute to the efforts of the European Union to eliminate its dependence on Russian gas.”

Cyprus Energy Minister Natasa Pilides added that the EuroAsia Interconnector, “is an extremely complex project which required a lot of coordination, a lot of work in studies, in financial studies, technical studies, in making the project ready for submission for funding for the construction phase.”

“We aim to achieve much more ambitious goals for the penetration of renewable energy in our energy mix and we truly believe that that will be possible that we can not only meet, but also exceed our goals for 2030 and our climate goals for 2050.”