An agreement in principle between the Greek and Cypriot sides for the promotion of the necessary steps that will unlock the implementation of the Great Sea Interconnector was reached in the negotiations of all stakeholders. recently. 

This paves the way for the construction of the major project of the Greece-Cyprus electrical interconnection that was hanging by a thread after the ultimatum of Nexans, which is building the Greece-Cyprus interconnection cable. 

Recall that Nexans had sent Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) a letter asking for the resolution of the outstanding regulatory issues prior to the IPTO issuing the final order; alternatively, it had designated yesterday as the last day of work on the cable.

EXTENSION

Following the green light of the negotiations, ΙPTO sent a delay letter to Nexans, requesting an extension until next Friday in order for RAEK to proceed—as committed—to issue two regulatory decisions critical to the project's progress, which will reportedly set the WACC at 8.3% for the 17 years of the project's operation and at €125 million in revenue recovery from consumers over the first five years of project construction (i.e. between 2025 and 2030).

PENDING DECISIONS

It is noted that the Cypriot government had previously acknowledged that the previous decisions of RAEK rendered the project unsustainable, essentially in line with what it had indicated
already pointed out by IPTO. 

Sources from the operator's side stress, however, that despite the green light given by this agreement in principle, the above decisions will have to be issued in order for the project to actually proceed. Alternatively, the activation of Nexans' suspension of work will put a stop to the implementation plans
of the major electrical interconnection between the two countries. Finally, it should be noted that the Greek side is also pending the decision of RAEAY on the WACC that IPTO had estimated at 9%