Procedures are progressing, both inside and outside Greece, for the electrical interconnection of our country with Cyprus—Israel.

As noted by the President and CEO of ADMIE, Manos Manousakis, at the Athens Investmen Forum: Studies are underway in Greek and Cypriot territorial waters 

• The cost-benefit study for the Israel-Cyprus section is expected to be ready in the first quarter of 2025 - It is only a matter of time before any outstanding issues between the Cypriot and Greek sides are resolved, while talks with investors are also progressing. As far as the studies are concerned, a second research vessel is expected to start studies from Greece to Cyprus in the next period in order to carry out the necessary mapping to select the route to be followed by the cable that will connect Crete to Cyprus.  

THE NEXT MOVEMENT 

Tomorrow, Cypriot Energy Minister Giorgos Papanastasiou is due to meet with Nexans, which is building the cable. Interest then turns to ETEp, as its decisions on the €500m loan for the Great Sea Interconnector are expected in November. It should be noted that the Greece-Cyprus-Israel electricity interconnector is included in the Projects of Common Interest (PCIs), receiving a €657 million grant from the Commission. In order for the European Commission to proceed with such a high level of funding for a cross-border project, it has carried out detailed cost-benefit studies, which have demonstrated the benefit to consumers and the economic viability of the project. This interconnection project is one of the largest electricity interconnection projects in the world, with 3,000 m-deep cable laying and innovative High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) technology. 

DATA CENTERS...

Manousakis stressed that Greece can also play an important role as a telecommunications hub with the development of data centers, emphasizing, however, that their location is a very crucial issue. "Spatial planning will play a very important role overall for the next stage of investment in the country," he said. 

... AND EGYPT 

Recall that ADMIE, through its subsidiary Grid Telecom, is jointly running with Telecom Egypt the major project of the Crete-Egypt interconnection project with an undersea telecom cable. In particular, the project is reportedly estimated to be completed within the first quarter of 2025.  The new telecom cable, the preliminary contract for which was signed in 2022, will effectively serve the growing data traffic between Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Thus, Greece will become the connection point of a large undersea fibre optic system, linking Europe with Africa and the Middle East. The cable will also provide the shortest route with the lowest data latency between Egypt and Greece, extending north to the Balkans, Central and Western Europe and south to the Arabian Peninsula and other major destinations in Asia and Africa.  This will create a high-capacity corridor for data transport in the wider Mediterranean and Balkan region.