Power grid operator IPTO has moved ahead with the second stage of a tender for a grid interconnection to link the islands Serifos, Milos and Folegandros with the mainland. This project represents part of the fourth phase of the Cyclades interconnections.

IPTO’s tender is divided into two parts, the first concerning mainland and subsea cable installations for interconnections linking coastal Lavrio, in the wider Athens area’s southeast, with Serifos and, by extension, Serifos with Milos. The second part of the tender concerns subsea cable installations linking Milos with Folegandros and Fologandros with Santorini.

According to sources, a total of four offers have been submitted to the tender’s two parts, two for each.

A tender for the installation of three substations, on Serifos, Milos and Folegandros, is also in progress. A total of six offers have been submitted to this tender. Their technical and financial details are currently being appraised.

IPTO hopes contracts for the two tenders can be completed within the current year so that the projects can be developed in 2023.

The fourth phase of the Cyclades interconnections includes a project for Santorini. Its development has been in progress since early May and, according to IPTO president Manos Manousakis, is expected to be completed in the first half of 2023.

Damco Energy and China’s Xian Electric were awarded the Santorini project’s substation contract, while Hellenic Cables has taken on the cable installation work.