Greek TSO enters EuroAsia Interconnector with 25% stake

Greek electricity grid operator Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO or Admie) has become a strategic investor in the EuroAsia Interconnector that will link Greece, Cyprus and Israel with the acquisition of a 25 per cent stake.

IPTO’s entry into the share capital of EuroAsia Interconnector is said to satisfy the requirement of the Directorate General for Energy of the European Union (DG ENER) for the shareholding of a transmission system operator (TSO) as a guarantor for the electrical security of the three Eastern Mediterranean countries.

In addition, the move ensures the technical and financial adequacy of the project and lays the foundations for its timely completion by 2027, the company stated.

ADMIE President and CEO Manos Manousakis said: “This agreement is the fruit of many months of negotiations and is part of ADMIE’s strategy to make Greece an energy hub in SE Europe. For our part, we did everything in our power to secure an agreement that would safeguard the Greek energy system and our shareholders.”

IPTO has been assisting the project since 2021 as a technical consultant, having contributed to its design maturation and financial support from the EU mechanism Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), with €657 million.

The company’s equity participation, which will be completed after the due diligence process, is expected to be an acceleration factor for the signing of the contracts with the contractors who have been selected after a competitive process, for the submarine cables and the converter stations in Crete and Cyprus.

The project is set to bring an end to Cyprus’ energy isolation, making all EU countries physically connected to the EU electricity grid.

“The agreement for the participation of ADMIE in the share capital and the Board of Directors of the EuroAsia project, which is expected to be completed in the coming months, is a very positive milestone for the deepening of the strategic cooperation relations between Greece-Cyprus-Israel,” said Greece’s Minister of Environment and Energy Theodoros Skylakakis.

“Greece has been a reliable and systematic supporter of the efforts of the Republic of Cyprus, in terms of strengthening the maturity of its electrical interconnection with the European energy market. This happened from the first inclusion of EuroAsia in the list of Projects of Common Interest (PCI) in 2013 until the strengthening of the project in 2021 with 657 million euros from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).”

EuroAsia Interconnector, a multi-terminal VSC-HVDC scheme that will comprise converter stations with sea electrodes, entered the construction phase in October 2022.

At full deployment, the 500 kV interconnector will allow the transfer of 2,000 MW of electricity. Its total offshore length is 1,208 kilometers, while its onshore length is 25 kilometers.

Nexans Norway signed a reservation agreement for the HVDC cable systems for the Cyprus – Greece link of the project at the end of last year.