Preliminary work on the Greece-Cyprus-Israel electricity interconnection, whose Cyprus-Israel segment has been named the Great Sea Interconnector, is planned to commence in 2024.

Development of a segment stretching from Crete to Cyprus is soon expected to get underway, while the development prospects of the project’s section from Cyprus to Israel are approaching readiness.

Also, as noted by Greek power grid operator IPTO’s chief executive Manos Manousakis in recent comments to Cypriot media, the Greek power grid operator plans to sign an agreement with Siemens late in 2024 for the construction of two converter stations required by the Cypriot and Cretan grids as part of the project’s development.

IPTO and Siemens have already signed an agreement concerning preliminary studies for these converter stations, Manousakis informed.

The IPTO chief, responding to a journalist’s question, informed that, based on the company’s Crete-Athens grid link experience, the Crete-Cyprus section of the project would require between four and five years to be completed from the date a final investment decision has been taken, essentially meaning a 2029 delivery date is likeliest.

The Cypriot and Israeli regulatory authorities still need to reach an agreement so that the Cyprus-Israel segment of the project can be considered sustainable through secured revenue.

The Cypriot State is expected to enter the Great Sea Interconnector, an IPTO subsidiary, with an initial sum of approximately 100 million euros.

The project is budgeted at 1.9 billion euros, with 657 million euros secured through the Connecting Europe Facility.