Major investor interest in Greece-Cyprus power link

The Greece-Cyprus electricity interconnection, a project with a budget of 1.9 billion euros, has attracted the interest of major investors inside and outside Europe. After the October agreement placing the Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMIE) in charge of implementation, the project is on track.

“Since ADMIE assumed the role of implementing body, there has been very strong investment interest, which is expected to be expressed officially in the next period, from various sides,” said the president and managing director of ADMIE, Manos Manousakis.

The Cypriot government “is gravitating toward participating in the project, which will make its implementation easier,” he said. “The next steps include the transfer of the licenses that have been issued and the contracts that have been signed to the new project implementer, while a critical milestone is the signing of a loan agreement with the European Investment Bank that must be done within the first quarter of 2024,” Manousakis added.

Last week, following Manousakis’ visit to Cyprus and his meetings with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, the Cypriot Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry Giorgos Papanastasiou, the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA) and the Transmission System Operator of Cyprus, it was announced that the first results of the relevant study commissioned are positive and that by the end of January the Cypriot government will decide whether to participate in the project.

Cyprus’ participation is expected to be in the order of 100 million euros, while the Cypriot government and ADMIE are expected to have the majority of the shares in the company constructing the project.