With the announcement of the tender for the Corinth-Kos electricity interconnection, IPTO launches a crucial project for the integration of the Dodecanese islands into the continental high-voltage system.

The tender procedure concerns the design, supply and installation of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable systems, as well as two conversion stations to be built at both ends of the interconnection. 

The budget for the cable part of the interconnection is €630 million and for the conversion stations €789.1 million. The project will be awarded on the basis of the most economically advantageous tender. The duration of the construction phase is set at 36 months from the signing of the contract. 

The second DC cable system to be installed in Greece, following the Crete-Attica electricity interconnection, will have a transmission capacity of 1,000 MW and a total length of 380 km. 

The Corinth-Kos interconnection will then connect six autonomous electricity systems in the Dodecanese islands (Karpathos, Rhodes, Symi, Kalymnos, Patmos and Arkia), thus ensuring the safe supply of electricity to ten more islands indirectly supplied by medium-voltage cables. 

The electrical interconnection of the Dodecanese islands will offer significant environmental and economic benefits, as it will allow the gradual withdrawal of the polluting and costly oil-fired power plants that have been operating on the non-interconnected islands until now. 

The reduction in the cost of utility services for all consumers is estimated to amount to up to €3.6 billion for the period 2029–2053. The project has been selected for funding from the Island Unconnection Fund. 

The President and CEO of IPTO, Mr. Manos Manousakis, said. The Corinth-Kos interconnection will connect, for the first time, the Dodecanese with the mainland high-voltage system, paving the way for the full exploitation of the onshore and offshore renewable potential of dozens of islands. With the construction of the second domestic interconnection with HVDC technology, IPTOproves that it is at the "forefront" of operators across Europe that have the expertise for such complex energy projects. The new cycle of island interconnections in the Dodecanese and the NE Aegean has already opened with the soon-to-be completed tender for the submarine AC cables as well. As foreseen in our ten-year investment plan, by 2030 all the country's major islands will now be interconnected with the mainland through modern and resilient electricity infrastructure."