Elica

GREGY Interconnector plans split route to also serve Italy

Posted on by admin

Elica, a subsidiary formed by the Copelouzos group to promote the Greek-Egyptian GREGY Interconnector, promising transportation of Egyptian renewable energy production to Europe, plans to add Italy as a direct recipient in addition to Greece.

The idea behind this revision, or addition, is to ensure even more promising commercial prospects for the project by making available renewable energy from northeast Africa to a wider part of Europe.

The revised route being considered by Elica would split into two in the sea area southwest of Crete. From there, two subsea lines, each offering a capacity of 750 MW, would carry on for the wider Athens area and a further two subsea lines, also 750 MW each, would reach the sea area off Greece’s northwest and connect with an existing grid interconnection linking Greece and Italy.

This revised route would enable direct export of Egyptian renewable energy to Italy, as an additional recipient, via the GREGY Interconnector. Greece and Italy would each be able to receive capacities of 1,500 MW through the two lines.

Under the original plan for the GREGY Interconnector, four cables beginning from Egypt and possessing a total capacity of 3,000 MW would have all ended up in the wider Athens area.

Elica, the Copelouzos group subsidiary promoting the project, appears to have informed the Greek and Italian governments, as well as Greek power grid operator IPTO and Italy’s power grid operator TERNA of its planned route revision.

RES projects with a total capacity of 9.5 GW are planned for development in Egypt to feed renewable energy into the GREGY Interconnector.

Greek industrial consumers, seeking low-cost energy, are among the main potential recipients of the 1,500 MW to end up in the wider Athens area. A share of the renewable energy brought in from Egypt may also be exported to other Balkan countries through electrical grid links with Greece.

Italy, whose electricity import needs are among the highest in southern Europe, would cover a considerable proportion of these needs through the GREGY Interconnector, at a low cost.

 

 

Copelouzos holds Balkan, Italy talks for GREGY Interconnector

Posted on by admin

Copelouzos group president Dimitris Copelouzos has been involved in a series of meetings with leading energy-sector officials in the Balkans and Italy to explore the level of interest by energy groups and funds for investments concerning the Greek-Egyptian GREGY Interconnector and development of 9.5 GW in RES projects in Egypt, sources have informed.

Meetings held by the Greek entrepreneur with the energy ministers of Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia in their respective capitals, as well as in Italy with Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and top-ranked officials of Italian energy company Enel, have indicated a strong interest by all for renewable energy production from Africa’s north, as well as the establishment of PPAs.

The Copelouzos group recently founded a subsidiary named Elica to  promote the Greek-Egyptian GREGY Interconnector, a link that would facilitate transportation of Egyptian RES production to Europe.

The next few months will be crucial for GREGY Interconnector’s progress on a technical level as documents for related tenders are currently being prepared. Tenders will be staged to select consultants and designers who will undertake four main studies estimated to cost between 35 and 40 million euros, of which 50 percent will be sought through EU funds.

The series of tenders, expected to begin in April and May, will include a technical study, a geophysical and geotechnical study, as well as a seabed mapping study, the most challenging of all, covering a 954-km route in the eastern Mediterranean.

Highlighting the significance of the GREGY Interconnector and RES projects to be facilitated by this link, the EU and Egypt have issued a joint statement.

“Given the new energy and geopolitical reality, the EU and Egypt recognize the need to strengthen energy security, and, therefore, have agreed to intensify their cooperation with a focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency, as well as other low-carbon technologies, building on Egypt’s significant potential for more efficient expansion of renewable electricity generation through projects such as the GREGY Interconnector,” the joint statement noted.

Crucial studies for Greek-Egyptian GREGY link in autumn

Posted on by admin

Extensive attention paid to the prospective grid interconnection that would link Greece and Egypt through the 3.5 billion-euro GREGY Interconnector project at a meeting yesterday between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi in El Alamein reaffirms the strategic importance of this project.

So, too, does the involvement of Nikos Tsafos, the Greek PM’s special adviser on energy matters, and two Egyptian ministers, Tarek El-Molla, minister of petroleum and mineral resources, and Mohamed Shaker, minister of renewable energy, in working groups staged during the visit.

The GREGY Interconnector was recently favorably assessed by the European Commission for inclusion on its PCI/PMI list, but a series of challenging steps lie ahead.

Three crucial studies considered pivotal for the project’s prospects are planned to be staged in autumn – an environmental study, a final engineering study, and a seabed mapping survey, the trickiest and costliest of the three that will involve imaging of the seabed with a special vessel along the project’s 954-kilometer subsea route.

This latter survey is expected to require at least six months to complete. A vessel to take on the seabed mapping is expected to be commissioned in autumn through a tender.

Great water depths, such as those to be encountered in this East Mediterranean region, require expertise and experience possessed by few companies in the world.

Elica, a subsidiary of the Copelouzos group established to promote the Greek-Egyptian GREGY Interconnector, has come up with a budget estimate of 15 million euros for the seabed scan.

However, given the survey’s deep-sea nature and the fact that the proposed route’s seabed remains largely unknown as the area it covers has never before been scanned in detail, survey costs could escalate beyond initial estimates. Bad weather could also delay the effort. At best, a Final Investment Decision should not be expected before mid-2024.

Brussels wants Egyptian RES progress to fund Greek link

Posted on by admin

The European Commission wants to see clear progress in Egypt’s RES development plan before committing to any financial support for the Greek-Egyptian GREGY Interconnector, a 3.5 billion-euro project being promoted by Elica, a subsidiary of the Copelouzos group, reliable sources have informed energypress.

Brussels has informed all parties involved in the GREGY Interconnector of its prerequisite for funding support, the sources noted.

Europe needs green energy, which is why the European Commission is backing Egypt’s electricity interconnection with Greece, but investment plans for the development of RES projects in Egypt need to proceed and this progress should be reflected and confirmed by concrete data, the sources informed.

European officials consider the GREGY Interconnector to be feasible as the cost of green energy in Egypt is much lower and EU demand for low-priced electricity is high.

However, the European Commission is also taking into account Egypt’s slow development of electrified RES projects, totaling just 6 GW, a modest figure given the country’s size and rich solar and wind energy potential. Greece, a far smaller country, has so far amassed almost double the capacity of operating RES facilities, currently offering 10 GW.

Egypt, according to the country’s official energy strategy, plans to develop RES projects with a total capacity of 61 GW by 2035. Brussels will be waiting to see clear signs of this plan’s implementation.

 

Greek-Egyptian GREGY grid link prospects face crucial period

Posted on by admin

A Memorandum of Understanding for the entry of Greek power grid operator IPTO into the equity make-up of Elica, a subsidiary of the Copelouzos group established to promote the 3.5 billion-euro Greek-Egyptian GREGY Interconnector, along with a corresponding move expected from the Egyptian operator EETC, undoubtedly represent votes of confidence for the project.

The interest shown by the two operators to become stakeholders in the GREGY Interconnector project boosts its development prospects ahead of an EU announcement, in June, of a shortlist of projects seeking PCI/PMI list inclusion for the next two years.

Three studies crucial to the development of the GREGY Interconnector, promising to transmit green energy to Europe, are planned to be commissioned over the next couple of months.

One of the three studies will focus on technical details, a second will examine the project’s financial aspects, while a third study, a challenging seabed mapping procedure to scan the project’s underwater setting over a distance of 954 kilometers, will take no less than six months to complete. Weather conditions will play a big role in this third study’s duration.

If all goes according to plan, a final investment decision sanctioning the project’s development is expected within 2024.

Full support for GREGY Interconnector’s PCI/PMI bid

Posted on by admin

The GREGY Interconnector, a 3.5 billion-euro project being promoted by Elica, a subsidiary of the Copelouzos group, to link the Greek and Egyptian grids, is fully backed by the Greek energy ministry, RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, Egypt and Bulgaria, a presentation in Brussels last Friday of European projects seeking PCI/PMI list inclusion has shown.

This Greek-Egyptian grid interconnection, whose cable is planned to cover a 950-km distance, promises to transmit green energy to Europe.

Greece, it has become apparent, favors the development of the GREGY Interconnector over the Eunice Group’s alternate GAP Interconnector for a Greek-Egyptian grid link.

Hundreds of European projects seeking PCI/PMI list inclusion, which will secure EU support funds, were presented at last Friday’s Brussels event, staged by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy.

Support for PCI/PMI list candidate projects by relevant ministries, respective national regulatory authorities, as well as states involved will weigh heavily in the European Commission’s overall assessment.

The GREGY Interconnector should score highly in this department, given the comprehensive support of the project by all parties involved.

Besides official Greek and Egyptian support, the GREGY Interconnector has also received Bulgaria’s backing as it promises to export Egyptian-generated green energy to the country.

Brussels’ shortlist of PCI/PMI projects is expected to be announced in June, while a finalized list should be announced late in the year.