Copelouzos Group is accelerating the development of its 4.2 billion euro ($4.3 billion) energy link project with Egypt, seeking to reach a final investment decision next year and start in 2030, the executive in charge of the project told Bloomberg.

Known as Gregy, the proposed underwater power transmission line has attracted "strong interest" from European banks for potential financing, Ioannis Karydas, managing director for renewable energy, energy storage and interconnectors, told Bloomberg. 

Greece has seen increasing investment in energy infrastructure, from liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals to pipeline connections and power lines. This is turning the Mediterranean nation into a gateway to Europe's energy imports as the continent seeks to become independent of Russia's natural gas and plans to reduce net carbon emissions to zero by 2050, Bloomberg noted in its report.

The Gregy project has been placed on the European Union's list of energy projects of common and mutual interest, making it eligible for grants of up to 50% of the construction costs. Greece's electricity grid operator, ADMIE, announced last November that it would consider investing in the project.

The link, which will consist of four cables stretching for nearly 1,000 kilometers across the eastern Mediterranean, aims to bring electricity from a portfolio of 9.5 gigawatts of wind and solar projects that Kopelouzos Group will develop in Egypt as a separate project, Karydas told Bloomberg.

One-third of the electricity will be for Greek industry, one-third for transportation to Bulgaria, Italy and then other European countries, and another third for fuel production in Greece, such as hydrogen and green methanol for ships, according to Karydas. The project has the potential to replace 4.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, he added.

The wind and solar farms in Egypt will require investments of up to €8 billion, and the Kopelouzos group is targeting an international consortium of companies to develop them. A memorandum of understanding has already been signed with Infinity Power, a joint venture between Egypt's Infinity and Abu Dhabi's Masdar, Karydas said.