Prysmian links Crete to mainland Greece

Prysmian Group and Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) have completed the subsea interconnection between the island of Crete and the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece.

Prysmian designed, supplied, and installed an HVAC (High Voltage Alternating Current) cable system composed of 135 km of 150 kV three-core cables with XLPE insulation and double-wire armouring.

The company installed its cable-system technology, based on a synthetic armour 30% lighter than steel, at a maximum water depth of approximately 1,000 metres for the first time.

The project has a total value of €125 million and was awarded to Prysmian Group in 2018 by IPTO, which operates the transmission system for Greece’s power grid.

The first interconnection of Crete to the mainland of Greece is expected to go online over the next few months, ensuring reliable, affordable and sustainable power transmission.

Hakan Ozmen, EVP at Prysmian Group’s Projects Business Unit, said: “We are honoured of IPTO’s long-standing trust in our expertise, and we are proud to be IPTO’s key partner in such a strategic project, linking for the first time ever the island of Crete to the Greek mainland power grids”.

Manos Manousakis, BoD Chairman and CEO at IPTO, said: “The interconnection of Crete to the mainland has been a long-term aspiration for the Greek people and it now comes true in record time.

“Prysmian is a trusted partner of IPTO, engaged in flagship projects in Greece such as the interconnection of Cyclades Islands and the Crete-Attica powerlink.

“The technology of high strength synthetic fibres – used for first time in this project- secures low weight and good mechanical performance, ideal for the high-depth Greek seas. The innovative technology used in Crete-Peloponnese project paths the way for reliable and resilient subsea interconnections in the challenging Aegean sea”.

To remind, the Crete-Attica power link project was recently boosted with €200 million from the European Investment bank.

The €1 billion Crete-Attica interconnection is the largest energy infrastructure project currently under construction in Greece.