EIB to back Italy’s subsea link with €1.9 billion

Italian transmission system operator (TSO) Terna and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have signed a €500 million finance contract for the east section of the Tyrrhenian Link connecting Sicily with Campania.

The loan is the first tranche of a total of €1.9 billion approved by the EIB for the Tyrrhenian Link which will connect Sicily with Sardinia and the Italian peninsula via a 970-kilometer, 1,000 MW DC double submarine cable.

“As world leaders gather for COP27 in Egypt, the EIB, as the EU climate bank, is pleased to have signed the first €500 million tranche supporting the construction of the Tyrrhenian link,” said EIB vice president Gelsomina Vigliotti.

“This piece of infrastructure is of huge strategic importance to ensuring Italian energy security, as well as to cutting CO2 emissions and fostering the development of renewable energies, thereby reducing the cost of our bills. This operation also serves to consolidate our already excellent partnership with Terna, which aims to promote the energy transition and climate neutrality by 2050.”

Terna is planning an overall investment of around €3.7 billion for building the project, with the submarine electricity cable connecting the Italian peninsula with Sicily, representing the east section, whose first cable will be operational at the end of 2025, and then to Sardinia, which is the west section.

The infrastructure is expected to be fully operational in 2028. It is estimated that around 250 companies will be involved in the implementation of the project.

The 22-year loan is said to have a longer maturity and more competitive costs than those generally available on the market, in line with Terna’s policy to optimize its financial structure.

The operation brings total EIB financing for Terna to €2.6 billion, in addition to the remaining €1.4 billion for the other Tyrrhenian Link project tranches already approved by the bank.

To read more about the Tyrrhenian Link click HERE.