Euroasia Interconnector, heading a PCI-status Greek-Cypriot-Israeli electricity grid connection but at odds with Greek power grid operator IPTO for control, as provider, of the project’s Crete-Athens segment, has chosen not to take preliminary legal action challenging the terms of a related project tender, energypress sources have informed.

A deadline set by IPTO subsidiary Ariadne Interconnection for any legal challenges expired yesterday. Action by Ariadne Interconnection, a consortium of Cypriot interests, had been anticipated by a number of officials.

On May 24, when the Ariadne Interconnection tender’s terms were announced, IPTO chief executive Manos Manousakis underlined that all interested parties, domestic and foreign, need to contribute, implying project delays would be prompted if either EuroAsia or the European Commission took legal action.

The Crete-Athens interconnection, budgeted at 915 million euros, is scheduled for completion within 2022.

EuroAsia’s restraint may reflect a new strategy by the Cypriot consortium entailing an effort to secure Greek government support required for the induction of the rest of the project (Crete-Cyprus-Israel) into the EU’s next PCI list, which ensures EU funding support.