Edison’s final decision on EastMed by year-end

Energy group Edison plans to take the final investment decision (FID) on a proposed pipeline to deliver East Mediterranean gas to European markets by the end of this year, the Italian project developer told Reuters.

The EastMed-Poseidon pipeline, which would initially connect several gas fields offshore Israel to Italy and have an annual capacity of 10 billion cubic meters of gas, could be ready by 2027, Edison said.

The project, supported by Israel, Cyprus and Greece, would guarantee alternative supplies for Europe, which is weaning itself off of Russian piped gas.

In addition, it would better connect Cyprus to its EU partners.

For these reasons, the European Commission could be interested in partly funding the project, whose cost is estimated at around 6 billion euros, Edison said.

“We expect to take the final investment decision by the end of this year. With an FID in 2023, the project would be realized by 2027,” Fabrizio Mattana, Edison’s executive vice president for gas assets, told Reuters in an interview. [Reuters]