Their alliance is also partially designed to counter the growing influence of Turkey in the Middle East and check Ankara’s attempts to muscle in on the energy project, after large natural gas reserves were found in the area.Įgypt's President Abdel Fatah El Sisi during a joint news briefing with Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos MItsotakis and Cyprus's President Nicos Anastasiades in Athens on October 19. The agreement was the latest sign of increasingly close and wide-ranging relations binding the three nations, which are already partnering on an ambitious energy project to turn the Eastern Mediterranean into a major natural gas hub. “Greece will increase its energy efficiency, and will become a major player in the European energy arena, Cyprus will be an electricity hub in the south eastern Mediterranean and Egypt will become an important energy hub for Africa,” said Nasos Ktorides, head of the EuroAfrica Interconnector project, indicating that this partnership can only bring benefits to all three participating nations.Egypt, Greece and Cyprus on Tuesday signed a major agreement to link their electricity grids, a move that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi described as a first step towards connecting the three nations’ grids with the rest of Europe. The 1.648 kilometer cable will be one of the longest in the world, with a capacity of 2.000 MW. The following month, Greece, Cyprus and Egypt signed a memorandum on the completion of a study for the construction of the EuroAfrica Interconnector, an underwater electric cable connecting the power grids of those countries with continental Europe. The agreement includes the renewal of electricity infrastructure, development of electricity supply security, the construction of interconnected system, mutual cooperation on renewable energy, the application of energy regulations as well as exploration of new oil and natural gas resources. It will help bring an end to the energy isolation of some Member State and will also increase the level of renewables on the grid, reducing carbon dioxide emissions.Įarlier this year, in January, the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus ratified an agreement with Turkey on the construction of an underwater electrical cable. The Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) on the list will help deliver Europe’s energy and climate objectives and enable the gradual build-up of the Energy Union by integrating the energy markets in Europe and by diversifying the energy sources and transport routes. The design for the EuroAsia Interconnector project is included in the European Union’s 195 Projects of Common Interest. The project emerged amid improved relations between the three counties, coupled with the discovery of gas deposits in the east Mediterranean that could be used to generate electricity. The 1520 km undersea electric cable with a 2 GW capacity will be able to both receive and transmit electricity. Its first phase will have an estimated cost of around EUR 3.5 billion, reports. Greek and Cypriot regulators’ expected approval will mark the official beginning of the project. Israeli regulators are expected to give their approval next month, announced Nasos Ktorides, head of the EuroAsia Interconnector project. Work on an electric cable linking the power grids of Israel, Cyprus and Greece is to start in the first quarter of 2018 and is expected to last until 2022.
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