The board at power grid operator IPTO has approved the state-controlled company’s ten-year investment plan, covering 2023 to 2032, with full support from State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), the operator’s strategic partner, holding a 24 percent stake, a sign that tension between the two sides over the past few days has now eased off.

The ten-year investment plan was unanimously backed by IPTO’s nine-member board, which includes three members representing SGCC, energypress sources informed.

Days earlier, SGCC had informed it would prefer an administration change at IPTO after being notified, by the operator, of the Greek State’s decision to renew the term of IPTO president and chief executive Manos Manousakis.

In addition, Chen Dong, IPTO’s deputy chief executive, forwarded a letter to RAE, the Regulatory Authority of Energy, warning that the Athens-Crete grid interconnection’s completion is in danger.

At a preceding board meeting, an agreement with Siemens for procurement of the Athens-Crete grid link’s substations was approved by the IPTO board with a majority vote that did not include the support of the three SGCC representatives.

The Athens-Crete grid link’s substations, a crucial part of the grid interconnection, will determine, to great degree, the ensuing technology to be selected for the project, seen as pivotal for prospective transboundary interconnections.