Despite last Monday's agreement in principle for the completion of regulatory issues on the Cypriot side that would unlock the next steps for the electrical interconnection of the two countries, the crucial decisions are finally postponed until next week, continuing the thriller of the Great Sea Interconnector.

CRITICAL MEETING

As it became known yesterday, next Tuesday all critical issues for the interconnection are to be discussed at a summit meeting with the participation of Greek Energy Minister Theo Skylakakis, representatives of the European Commission, and Nexans, the company that is building the cable in Cyprus. 

According to the Government Spokesman of the Republic of Cyprus, Konstantinos Letibiotis, "the importance of the Crete-Cyprus electricity interconnection project, both as a strategic project and in terms of its economic dimension and the role it can play in the energy planning of our country and the European Union, is indisputable. In this context, the government is approaching the whole issue with responsibility and due diligence, with the sole aim of serving the interests of the Cypriot people. At the current stage of the discussions, at the initiative of the Republic of Cyprus, a meeting of all parties will be held in Cyprus on Tuesday, 10 September 2024, at 15:30". The Greek side underlines its political support for the project. As the Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis had said, "Greece fully supports this project and has taken all the necessary regulatory measures to ensure it."

ULTIMATUM

Meanwhile, the ultimatum for Nexans' shutdown is in the air. It would be recalled that the company had written to the IPTO requesting that the regulatory pending issues be resolved in order to give the final order; alternatively, it had set last Monday as the last day of work on the cable. With negotiations over the past few days indicating that a solution was being led, the IPTO had requested a delay in the suspension of work by the company till today. This was because it had expected that Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority would have proceeded—as it had committed to do—to issue two regulatory decisions critical to the project's progress, reportedly setting the WACC at 8.3% for the 17 years of the project's operation and €125 million in revenue recovery from consumers in the first five years of the project's construction (i.e. between 2025 and 2030).

The issuance of the decisions by the Cypriot Authority was stalled at the extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers to discuss a proposal that would lock in Cyprus' positions on the final regulatory framework for the electricity interconnection with Greece and ratify the agreement in principle reached last Monday. A meeting that, after postponements, eventually did not take place, postponing decisions until next week.