Initial agreement reached for interconnector
Τhe parties involved in the electricity interconnection project between Crete and Cyprus reached an agreement in principle to end the impasse that has arisen on how to cover its funding gap, according to Cypriot media.
The accepted solution for the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI), based on a proposal of Cypriot Energy Minister George Papanastasiou, involves tapping into the country’s energy penalty fund for emissions, state broadcaster CyBC reported.
The Cypriot government will have to approve on Wednesday a government council decision to finance part of the costs of the construction period of the project with the amount of 25 million euros per year and a total of 125 million euros over the five years (from 2025 to 2030), to limit the burden on consumers through hiked up electricity tariffs.
Concerning the geopolitical risk, the parties involved accepted the regulatory framework approved by the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA) since 2023, which stipulates that if an external risk interrupts the project, it “may” be permissible for CERA to approve the recovery of said costs from consumers.
